As you were
by Lolly4Holly
Summary: Nick returns to Las Vegas, only to discover that his past love is very involved with someone else. Will they be able to pick up where they left off, or is the hole that he left behind permanently filled? COMPLETE Nick/Greg slash MPREG
1. Chapter 1

**As You Were**

**AUTHOR:** Lolly4Holly

**RATED:** M

**Pairings:** Nick and Greg slash

**Summary:** Nick returns to Las Vegas, only to discover that his past love is very involved with someone else. Will they be able to pick up where they left off, or is the hole that he left behind permanently filled?

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own CSI or any of its characters.

**WARNINGS:** Adult content. **M/M** slash relationship. **Don't like, don't read.**

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**Chapter One:**

It was quarter past eight when he woke up, suddenly making him worry, as he was usually woken up well before six. Scrambling out of bed, the young man scratched the itchy stubble on his jaw line, making his way through to the room opposite his own. "C'mon bud, it's time to wake up." He gave the door a knock, before he stepped inside. He widened his eyes at the sight of the unoccupied bed.

A thousand thoughts suddenly flashed through his mind, of all the possibilities that could have happened during the night. Burglars, kidnappers, human traffickers or even a zombie outbreak or something crazy like that.

Anxiously gripping handfuls of his hair, the man hurried through his apartment in search of the missing child. He felt his heart racing in his chest. He had lost a few things before; keys, the occasional sock and a couple of watches, but never anything this important.

He paused in the front room, hearing a click coming from behind him. The anxious father quickly spun around, finding himself looking down the barrel of a gun.

"Do yah feel lucky?" The voice behind the gun asked, cheekily grinning as his victim hastily raised his hands over his head, like a real suspect. "Well, do yah, punk? Bang!" He shouted, giggling as his father immediately grabbed his chest, feigning a gunshot wound.

"Ooh, you got me." He dropped to his knees, smiling at the little cowboy stood on the sofa in front of him. "How could you? Killed by my own son." He fell back onto the carpet behind him, closing his eyes. "Why? Whhyyy?" He groaned, making a few choking sounds, before he closed his eyes.

"Papa." Sliding off the sofa on his bottom, the little cowboy hurried round to his father's head, trying to pry his eyes open. "Papa, I only pretend." He tapped him on the head, shrieking as the man suddenly reached out for him, tickling him to the floor beside him. "Don't... no... Papa. I sur-end." He squirmed on the carpet beside him, giggling uncontrollably.

"Surrender." His father corrected him, playfully pecking a kiss to the little cowboy's cheek as he lifted him off the floor. "So this is where you got to?" He gave him another tickle. "You had me worried, Buckaroo."

"You sleeping. Papa, can been cowboy when I bigger."

"You sure can. You can be whatever you want to be... just not a serial killer, dentist or somebody that tortures animals." He quickly corrected himself, thinking there was more to add to that list, but his little boy was only three at the moment. He still had plenty of time to add to the list. "You've still got plenty of time to grow up and become a big strong cowboy like your Daddy, so how about some breakfast?"

"Uh huh," He nodded his little head, adjusting the sheriff's badge he had attached to the pocket of his pyjama top.

"Okay." He climbed to his feet with his child in his arm, tipping the cowboy hat forwards slightly, making him look like a little Clint Eastwood. "Waffle soldiers?" He suggested, getting a nod out of him, even though his focus was on the plastic revolver in his hands. "Do you remember what day it is this weekend?"

"Nana's birthday." The little boy announced, clinging to his father's side as the man bent down to grab the frozen waffles from the bottom of the freezer. "We go to Nana's 'gain?"

"Yep, we're going to Nana's again." He set him down on the counter, so he could watch him while he made his breakfast. "We're gonna give her lots and lots of presents. Visit the seaside. Go in the swimming pool again. Do you remember the swimming pool?" He thought it was a long shot, as the last time he went in the swimming pool, he wasn't even on solid food yet. He spent about two minutes in the water in his father's arms, before he burst into tears, desperately wanting to get out again.

His father hoped that the second time would be different.

"See Rainbow 'gain?"

"The rainbow?" He remembered the last time they went over to his mother's house, it rained for four days. When they could finally go out to the seaside, they saw a rainbow reflecting down over the ocean. "Only if it rains, which it probably won't. Nana won't want it to rain on her birthday, will she? And we won't be able to go to the seaside if it does." He took the little cowboy's hat off his head, playfully ruffling his fingers through his tousled hair. "Whaddya want with your waffle soldiers?"

"Drawberries."

"Strawberries, okay." After toasting the waffles, his father sliced them into long stripes, serving them with a syrup ocean, whipped cream clouds and sliced strawberries. "C'mon, Buckaroo." With the plate in one hand, he lifted his son with the other, carrying them over to the table. He set the plate on the tray table of the highchair, while he struggled to get the toddler's legs through the gaps. "You're getting too big for this. We're gonna have to get lots and lots of pillows so you can reach the table." He teased, making the child giggle.

"I like here." He patted the tray table of his highchair, not wanting to give it up. His Nana had already forced him to give up his baby bottles. His pacifiers were slowly disappearing, and now he was about to lose his chair. "I don't like be bigger." He handed his sheriff's badge over to his father.

"Okay, you can keep the chair." He grinned at him, stealing one of his waffle soldiers. "Eat up, bubba; I gotta getcha to day care, before I go to work."

"No, Papa," The little boy pouted at him. "I don't like day care. I stay you."

"You can't stay with me today. I've gotta work." He felt guilty again, seeing the familiar pout that always made him feel like a bad father. "I'm sorry; I can't take you with me to work. You know that Uncle Grissom gets grouchy when I bring you in with me. It's dangerous."

"Papa, I be good." He promised him.

"I know you will, but I can't take you with me. I'm sorry." He pressed a kiss to his forehead, handing the boy his fork to start eating his breakfast. "Eat up; I gotta go get ready for work." He turned for his bedroom down the hall, grabbing his cell off the bedside table as it started to ring. "Sanders." He professionally answered it. "Hi Grissom, yep... Tangiers? Okay, I'll be there in about..." He checked his watch from the opposite bedside table. "Fifteen minutes. I've still got, Colt. I've gotta get him off to day care before I can head in. Okay... see yah there."

Greg dropped his phone on the bed, realising he had less than fifteen minutes to get both himself and his son dressed. He should have asked his boss for more time. It wasn't possible to get a three year old washed, dressed and into the car in that short amount of time.

He knew, he had plenty of practice.

"Colt," He hopped out of his bedroom, pulling on his jeans and a clean t-shirt. "I'm gonna need you to eat your breakfast super fast, so I can get you dressed. Okay?"

"I don't want get tummy ache." The smart little boy pointed out to him.

"I don't want you to get a tummy ache either, but Uncle Grissom isn't gonna give me this weekend off if I'm late again." He reminded him of the last time, gently ruffling his hand through the child's hair. "Eat as fast as you can for me, but don't get a tummy ache."

Colt reached for one of his strawberry slices, holding it above his head, towards his father's mouth. He giggled as the man playfully bit his fingers, shrieking in excitement as he tried to pull his fingers back. "Papa."

"Sorry." Greg pecked a kiss to the side of the boy's head. "I love you, eat up." He handed him his fork again, trying to get him used to using cutlery instead of his fingers all the time. Leaving his toddler eating his breakfast, Greg hurried back to his bedroom, trying to get himself ready, before he worried about getting Colt ready.

Sometimes he thought that it might have been easier if he wasn't a single parent. He kept telling himself that if thousands of other people across the world could do it, he could do it too.

The truth was, he didn't want to do it alone.

He never did.

(END OF CHAPTER ONE)

**Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought. I know it's short, but it's all I had time for in the weeks up to Christmas :D Should have another chapter over this weekend though. I've got a cold, so I'm bound to inside this weekend. Hope you are all doing well.**

**Take Care**

**~ Holly x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

Glancing up from her desk after she finished another load of paperwork, Catherine spotted a familiar face making his way through the lab. She removed the glasses from her face, wondering if she was seeing things, but it was really him. She immediately climbed to her feet, hurrying into the hallway to greet him, before he disappeared again.

"Hi there, stranger." She threw her arms around his shoulders, still in shock that he was even here. "Wow, look at you. You haven't really changed, but you're here. Where have you been all this time?" She noticed that he felt slightly thinner, but she was just too happy to see him to care.

"All over really," He kept his answer vague, pulling back from the woman, before she crushed his spine. "I'm sorry I disappeared on y'all, I just..."

"I know." Catherine gently rubbed her hand across his shoulder. "You don't have to explain anything to us. Things around here haven't exactly been the same for anyone since we lost..." She didn't want to say the man's name out loud, but he knew who she meant. They had all lost their friend and work colleague, Warrick, but out of all of them, Nick was the one who took it the hardest. "So, what are you doing back here, Nicky? I thought you'd return to Texas after your world tour, not here. Why would you wonna come back here?"

Nick looked around the lab, giving her a shrug as this place really didn't feel familiar to him anymore. He had been away for too long. "I left so suddenly... I never really got a chance to say goodbye to anyone. I was thinkin' about comin' back. But now that I'm here... where's...?" He suddenly changed his trail of thought.

"He's not here." She noticed right away who he was looking around for.

"You mean...?"

"No, he hasn't left or anything like that. He's just out on a scene." She quickly assured him, smiling to herself as he was still like an open book. He hadn't just stopped by to say his proper goodbyes to the team. He came for the man he loved. "I doubt he's going to be too happy to see you though. You broke his heart. You abandoned him without saying a word."

"I know what I did." Nick stopped her from saying anything else. "I know I can never say or do anythin' that'll change the fact that I left him either. He doesn't even have to know that I'm here. I just want him... I want to know if he's doin' okay. I've never stopped thinkin' about him. I can't get him out of my mind. He was the one good thing in my life, and I blew it."

"You can't leave again without him even knowing that you stopped by. That's not fair on him and you know it. He misses you. Stick around. You never know, he might hear you out." Still unable to believe her eyes, Catherine threw her arms around him again, clutching him tightly as if she was trying to stop him from leaving them again. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again, Nicky. You might wonna leave the Greg reunion until after work though. He's on days now." She got back to her original point.

"Really, why?" Nick didn't think that Greg would ever switch his shifts. He lived for night shifts, he said so himself.

"You'll have to ask him." Catherine looked over her shoulder as she heard her phone ringing; quickly warning the younger man, "Don't go disappearing for another three years now. Maybe we could go out for a drink after work and catch up?"

"Sure." Nick waved her off, turning his head in the direction of the front desk as he heard a familiar laugh. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he saw him again, realising his love for him was still there. He knew it was, he just didn't know how he would feel when he saw him again.

Spending three years away from him wasn't exactly easy, now that he was reunited with him, leaving him again would be completely out of the question.

It all really depended on Greg though.

"Okay boss, I'll meet yah down at autopsy." Greg finished signing himself in, making his way towards the DNA lab to hand over some evidence to be processed.

On his way, he glanced down the hall of the lab, noticing a familiar face looking his way. He had to look twice to see who it was, feeling chills running down his spine. He stopped in his tracks before he reached the door of the DNA lab, staring blankly at the man stood opposite him. He thought he was still seeing things for a moment, but he was really there, as large as life.

And he was walking towards him.

Nick sucked in a sharp breath, stuffing his shaky hands into his pockets as he was now less than five feet away from his former lover. "Hi, Greg." His voice sounded so familiar to him, but he felt like a stranger to him now.

Greg stood completely still for a long moment, not quite sure what to say or do.

His throat felt dry and his palms started to sweat, starting to make him lose his grip on the evidence in his hands. Of all the possible ways he had imagined their reunion, this certainly wasn't one of them. Then again, the fantasy of calling one another's names out, before they ran towards one another in slow motion was a little too farfetched.

"Greg." Nick repeated his name, wishing he would say anything to break the silence.

"Are you... are you here?" Greg spoke softly, feeling as though he was dreaming as this was just too surreal. "Are you here to stay I mean? You're not just swinging by for your last pay check or something, right?"

"I eh... I don't know." He took another step closer to Greg. "Can we talk?"

"No." The younger man immediately responded, not caring if he hurt the man's feelings. He looked down at the things in his hands, snapping himself back to reality. "No, not here. I'm busy. I've gotta get this off to the lab. Then I've got to go and meet Grissom down in autopsy."

"After work then?" Nick suggested. "You have some time, right?"

"No." He turned him down again. "I have to go."

"Greg, I know that I hurt you, when I left..." He grabbed for his arm, stopping him from leaving him alone in the hall of the lab. "I don't know how much, but I want to make it up to you. I know that you can't ever understand either... but I just couldn't be here after we lost, Warrick."

"Exactly, Nick." Greg took a step away from him. "We all lost, Warrick. It wasn't just you. It was completely selfish of you to leave, especially when you left me. You didn't even give me an explanation or anything. You just left without saying a word. Then you wouldn't even answer your damn phone. As far as I'm concerned, you never came back." He walked away from him, leaving Nick on his own this time.

"Greg, if you'd just give me a minute to explain." The Texan followed him into the DNA lab, relieved that it was empty, so they could talk. "I just need a minute. If you don't like what I have to say, then I'll go." He indicated towards the door over his shoulder. "You'll never have to see me again."

"Talk fast." Greg set the evidence bag from his hands onto the table, while he folded his arms across his chest, ready to listen to what Nick had to say.

"Okay," He inhaled another deep breath. The whole time he had been planning this speech, he had been stood in front of a mirror, not the actual version of the man he loved. "Okay... um... first of all, I didn't realise how much I really loved you, until I was miles away from you. It reminded me of what you used to say before a shift... that distance makes the heart grow fonder. I never really knew what it meant until I was away from you."

"Is this your big speech? Because so far I'm not convinced." The younger man remained hostile towards him.

"I've missed you." Nick ignored his hostility. "Ever since the day I left, I've been regrettin' it. I wanted to come back so many times, but I just couldn't face it. I know you're mad..."

"Mad doesn't even cover it." Greg informed him, "You didn't even leave me so much as a note. You didn't answer your phone, emails, anything. I thought you were dead. Didn't you think that maybe I'd want to get in contact with you? What did I ever do to deserve that? You have no idea what I've been through since you left. And no apology you give me is going to make up for the fact that you abandoned us."

Despite how guilty he felt, Nick still noticed his word slip up, "Us?"

"Yeah, us... the people here at the lab," Greg quickly covered, glaring at the man in front of him. "You've had your minute. Times up. Leave me alone now." He pulled his arm away as Nick tried to grab him, avoiding direct eye contact with him as he turned for the door. "Just go. Forget you ever saw me. I will."

"Greg. Greg." Nick tried to stop him from leaving again, but he was already half way down the hall. He hurried straight for the locker room, not wanting the man who broke his heart to know that he was crying. He hadn't cried over him in months. He thought he would be happy when the day finally arrived that he did come back, but all he felt was all that hurt coming back.

Closing the door of the locker room, Greg took a seat on the bench in the middle of the room, dropping his head into his hands. He didn't exactly handle that reunion as well as he hoped, but Nick couldn't just expect them to get back to normal after he abandoned him like that.

Granted, he had no idea that Greg was pregnant or could even get pregnant when he walked out on him, but he didn't exactly stick around or answer his phone so that Greg could tell him.

In reality, it was all Nick's fault, not his.

Opening his locker door in front of him, Greg looked at the pictures he had inside, wondering what his life would have been like if Nick had stuck around. He had never taken down the pictures of Nick and him together; he had only added more pictures since the new addition to his life.

"Are you gonna tell him?" Catherine appeared in the doorway behind him, noticing that his watery eyes were fixated on the baby pictures in his locker. "He has the right to know."

"You think he has the right, when he's the one who left me to it? He doesn't have any right."

"He didn't know." She defended the man, taking a seat beside Greg on the bench. "You know that if he did, he would have been there in a heartbeat. This is what he's always wanted. Forget about Nicky for a moment. Think about your son. Are you really going to deny, Colt, the right to meet his father? You've already told him about him; wouldn't you like him to meet the man you're always telling him about?"

"No, he'll only end up hurting him too." Greg didn't want his son to go through what he had already been through.

But it was too late.

"You've already given him the memory of Nick. He knows that he's his father. He knows about him through stories that you've told him. What are you going to tell him when he eventually does ask you where his Daddy is? You've been lucky enough that the fantasy version of his father is enough for him at the moment, but he's growing up. He needs to meet this man that you're always telling him about."

Greg sighed softly, realising he didn't really have a choice. "And how exactly do you propose I go about telling him that he has a son, without him thinking that I'm completely crazy? He doesn't even know that I can get pregnant. We were together for four years before he left. He's not going to believe this for a second. The last thing I want is for him to reject, Colt."

"You'll just have to explain it to him." Catherine gently put her arm around Greg's shoulders, whispering, "Never forget that you have all of us here though. We'll stick through it with you."

"Thanks." He smiled at her, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I don't think I can forgive him though. Could you? Where's he been for the last three years?"

(END OF CHAPTER TWO)

**Those of you who don't know my stories, I like to slowly build up the background story, rather than blurting it all out in one go. You'll learn everything that went on eventually, you'll just have to be patient :D**

**~ Holly x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The little cowboy weaved through the trolleys in the store, firing his toy pistol at the random pretend enemies that only he could see. He ducked and weaved around the various displays, running as fast as his little legs could carry him, until his father grabbed a handful of his t-shirt, stopping him from going any further. "No, Papa." He whined in protest.

"Colt, I told you not to run off." Greg knelt down to his level. "You'll have to sit in the trolley if you can't stay by me."

"Papa, I have shoot dem." Colt squirmed as his father lifted him into his arms, holding him securely against his side to carry him back to the trolley he had left over in the fruit and veg section of the store. "I get down. Papa, I get down now. I down, Papa." The boy kicked his legs in objection, not wanting to be carried like a baby.

"Not yet." Greg struggled to get him into the trolley, carefully lining his squirmy little legs to get them through the gaps of the seat. "You can sit in the trolley for a few minutes."

"Nooo!" The toddler immediately gave out a shriek in protest, causing the other parents with the perfectly behaved children to look round at Greg. One mother in particular shook her head at the young father, rolling her eyes as she walked away with her seven year old twin girls.

"Colt, stop it." Greg kept his cool, ignoring the judgemental looks. "I'll let you out in a few minutes, but before I do, you have to promise me that you're going to stay by the trolley this time. I don't want to lose you like last time."

"I promise now, Papa." He pouted at him, reaching his arms out to him. "I get down."

Greg giggled softly, shaking his head at the little boy. "It doesn't work like that, bubba. Punishment first, promise after. After your three minutes are up, I'll let you out and you can walk beside me. Are you sure you didn't have any chocolate today?" He playfully ruffled his hand through his tousled hair.

His son shook his head, looking over his shoulder to see where they were going. "Have dose?" He pointed to something ahead of them.

"Can we have those," Greg corrected him, stopping the trolley beside what he wanted. "You can only have it, if you can name it." The child shook his head, trying to reach them from his position inside the trolley. "C'mon, you've had it tons of times before." He grabbed for one of the sweet potatoes, holding it out to the curious toddler. "It's really yummy with melted cheese on it. Or mashed up with butter and chilli powder," His son helped him a lot in the kitchen, so he knew he'd remember the name of it eventually. "But you love them most as wedges with burgers or roasted with juicy piece of gammon, drizzled with honey."

"Sweet tato." Colt answered, knowing he was right as his father immediately pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Sweet Potato. Good, boy." He playfully bumped their fists together.

"Can we have?" His son held onto the one from his father's hands, while the man bagged a couple more of them. "Papa, pwease."

"Yes, we can have them. We'll make them into wedges tonight with our burgers." Greg grabbed a couple of them, tying them off in a bag. He let his son hold them, keeping him occupied so he could continue with the rest of his weekly shop. "What else do we need?" He sometimes wished he had the sense to write a list of what he needed, but that had always been Nick's department before.

Now that he was on his own, he was constantly forgetting things, which was never a good thing with a baby around the house. He had to improvise diapers more than a few times in the past.

"I get down." Colt insisted, the second they reached the checkout. "Papa."

"I'm getting, I'm getting. Don't rush me." Greg slid his hands beneath the child's arms, lifting him out onto the floor. "Stay by me." He warned him, taking his toy gun back from him, so he wouldn't start shooting at the people waiting to pay for their groceries.

Colt wasn't interested in shooting bad guys anymore anyway. He stayed by his father's legs this time, clinging to his jeans as he was too tired to run around anymore. Instead, he curiously looked around at the other people in the store. He noticed a baby much younger than him sat in a trolley, with a Mommy and a Daddy stood either side of it. He had already been told the reason why he didn't have a Mommy, but that never stopped him wondering why he didn't have two parents like everyone else.

"C'mon, Buckaroo," Greg reached out for his hand once their shopping was paid for, leading the way towards the exit. With his short little legs, Colt always walked slow, but when he was tired, he walked painfully slow. Greg eventually gave up trying to walk with him, lifting the child onto his hip instead.

"I get down." The toddler immediately protested.

"No, I wonna go home." Greg held him firmly against his side. "You're going in the car in a minute anyway. What's the matter, doncha love me anymore?" He playfully tickled his sides, making him giggle and squirm in his arms. "You never want me to hold you anymore."

"I not baby."

"I know you're not a baby, unless it's bedtime or breakfast time or just after your nap. Then you're fine with me babying you." He chuckled, patting his baby's diapered bottom. "I sound like Nana as I'm saying this, but you'll always be my baby." He sat him on the handle bars of the trolley, whispering, "Wonna see how fast we can go?"

"Yeah." The toddler cheered, clutching his father tightly as he started pushing the trolley really fast through the parking lot. He adorably shrieked in excitement, reminding Greg why he was so grateful that he had a child as wild as himself. "Faster, Papa. Like the wind."

"Papa can't go any faster." Greg pulled to a halt behind his car, placing a hand on his child's back so he didn't go flying. "How about we go to the park tomorrow?" He suggested, lifting him into his arms. "We can go on the swings, and you can fly like the wind then."

"Yeah. We go home now."

"Yep, we're going home now. I meant tomorrow when I have a day off." Opening up the back of his car, Greg placed his son into his car seat, before he knelt down so he could securely strap him in. "I have the day off tomorrow, so we can pack up our stuff for our weekend away with Nana, but we'll have plenty of time to go to the park."

"We go on swings and slide and eat ice meam?"

"Yep, we can do all that. Just don't let Nana know that you had ice cream again." He giggled softly, pressing a kiss to his toddler's soft little cheek. "I'll be right outside. We'll go home soon." He promised him, handing his child his favourite stuffed toy from the seat beside him, before he closed the door on him. He noticed that his son was starting to rub his eyes, indicating that he was starting to get tired.

Greg quickly loaded up the shopping into the trunk of his car, wanting to get his son back home, so he could put him down for his afternoon nap. "We all set?" He climbed into the driver's seat, realising that his son was getting sleepier by the minute. "We'll be home soon, kay?"

Colt nodded his head, reaching for his toy gun to play with, before they started driving.

Greg passed it through the seats to him, feeling his heart lightly fluttering inside his chest as he once again reminded of Nick. Every time he looked at his son, he was constantly reminded of the man he loved. He wondered if Nick was really gone for good this time, making him feel guilty as he never even knew that he had a son.

"Don't hold it out the window like last time. I'm not going after it if you drop it."

He shook his head. "Pancho." The toddler reminded him of his favourite teddy bear that he hung out the window on the route to his Nana's house. He was so upset after he lost him, forcing his father to go back to get him, eventually stopping him from crying.

"I remember." Greg smiled over his shoulder at him, before he started up the car. "Hold on tight to Pancho too, we don't want him taking a breather out the window again."

"He need seatbelt, Papa." Colt held the bear out for his father, waiting for him to take him.

"Okay," His father reached for the bear, buckling him into the passenger seat beside him. "There we go, Pancho is all set. Are you ready to go now?"

"Ready." He nodded.

The drive home wasn't that long; it used to be a shorter distance when they were still living at Nick's bachelor pad. It didn't feel right living there without him after a while though, so Greg sold it, moving them and all of their things into a more affordable apartment. Without Nick's second income or support, he found it hard to support himself and his newborn baby, so it was the only thing he could do in order to keep his little family afloat.

When they arrived back home, Greg spent ages looking for a spot. There wasn't exactly assigned parking spaces, and there were too many residents with more than one car in the building. He decided to circle the block a couple of times, figuring that one of them would leave eventually.

"Finally." He slipped into an empty spot twenty minutes later, ignoring the woman sticking her middle finger up at him, as she was after the spot too. "C'mon, bubba... let's get..." He looked over his shoulder, realising that his son had already fallen asleep.

Greg sighed softly, realising he had some extra luggage to carry up the stairs, as the elevator was probably out again. He unloaded the stroller from the back of his car, struggling to fit the shopping bags in the carriage compartment underneath, along with trying to balance some on the handles, before he loaded his son into the seat.

This was the one part of living in an apartment again that he really didn't like. When he was on his own as a bachelor, he never had to worry about getting a pushchair and things up the stairs if the elevator wasn't working, but now he had to worry about it all the time.

Unfortunately for him, today was one of those days.

"Okay, Buckaroo." Greg knelt down in front of his sleeping child, making sure the straps holding him in were secure. "I'm sorry, but it's going to be a bumpy ride." He backed the stroller up towards the stairs, slowly wheeling it backwards, one step at a time. It took him another ten minutes to get to his floor, where he had to fight with the heavy fire escape door.

His three year old managed to sleep through the whole thing though.

Giving himself a moment to breath, Greg leant against the handles of the stroller, realising just how out of shape he was. While he was panting, he noticed a figure stood in the hallway. He straightened up, freezing at the sight of the familiar Texan God stood right outside of his apartment door.

"Oh Great."

(END OF CHAPTER 3)

**Not quite sure what to call the pram / stroller / carriage / buggy / pushchair thing, as we all have so many different names for it. Hopefully you know what I mean though :D More on the way soon, thanks so much for your reviews so far. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.**

**Have a great rest of your weekend!**

**~ Holly x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

"What are you doing here?" Greg immediately barked at the man, as if he were an intruder. "You can't just..."

"Easy darlin', I didn't come here lookin' for a fight. I came here to find you. We need to talk." Nick took a few steps closer towards him, realising for the first time that Greg had carted a stroller up the stairs with him. Not just for the hell of it either, there was a small child fast asleep inside. He stared in amazement at the baby for a moment, seeing a lot of Greg in his delicate baby features.

"Well, move." Greg glared at him, unable to get to his door with the man in the way.

"Sorry." He took a step to the side. "Greg, I just wanted to talk. Can we...?"

"How did you even know where to find me?" Greg pushed the man aside, so he could reach his apartment door. "I'm not exactly listed."

"I asked Catherine. She didn't give it up easy though." Nick continued to look at the child that his former boyfriend had with him, barely paying attention to the man he really came to see.

"I'll kill her." The younger man muttered.

"Don't blame her; I had to get her drunk to get it out of her. And since you weren't answerin' your buzzer, I ended up tellin' my sob story to one of your neighbours. She buzzed me through, so I could wait for you."

"The door downstairs doesn't lock. No one ever bothers with the buzzers." Greg informed him, searching his pockets for his keys. "Shit." He slapped himself in the head, realising he had left them in the car door. "Of all the things." He mumbled under his breath, unbuckling the toddler from the pushchair, suddenly unbalancing it.

The Texan quickly grabbed it before the front hit the child or his shopping hit the floor, not even receiving so much as a glance for his heroics. "Do you need help?" He offered, watching the younger man struggling to lift the sleeping infant on his own.

"Nope, I got it." Greg protectively held his toddler against his side with one hand, leaning the pushchair against his door, so he could head back down the stairs to retrieve his keys. "Don't go anywhere." He warned the man behind him, struggling with the heavy door again. "I'll be back."

"Okay." Nick leant against the wall, wondering how Greg even managed to acquire a toddler while he was gone. Of course he hadn't expected him to wait around for him forever, but he felt hurt knowing that Greg had been with someone else this whole time. More importantly, they were living the life that he had always wanted with Greg.

Minus the horrible looking apartment building.

Greg eventually returned to the fifth floor, looking even more exhausted with his door keys in his hands. He made his way towards his door again, twisting the rusty old key into the lock. The door was always a little stiff, so he had to force it open with his elbow. "I don't need help." He stopped the older man from helping him with any of the shopping bags or the stroller. "I haven't had any help in a long time." He wheeled it inside, leaning the back against sofa, so it didn't tip over.

Nick stayed at the door so he wouldn't upset the younger man anymore, running all the possibilities through his mind. It didn't look as though Greg was expecting someone else to come home, like a boyfriend/girlfriend or a husband/wife. The place didn't appear to have any photographs of anyone else inside either, indicating that it was probably just Greg and the toddler living here.

"I know what you're thinking, and don't." Greg suddenly turned to look at him, while he was removing the toddler's jacket. "You don't get to judge me. You're the one who walked out on me." He lifted the toddler higher into his arms, gritting his teeth together as the toy gun from his son's hand suddenly slipped out, loudly clattering to the hard wooden floor beneath them.

Thankfully, Colt remained fast asleep though, repositioning himself against his father's shoulder, completely unaware of the other man's presence.

"Greg..."

"Shh," The younger man hissed back at him, taking his son towards the hallway. "If you still wonna talk, I'll be back in a minute." He froze in his tracks a few seconds later, realising that he had somehow lost his son's favourite teddy bear on the journey up the stairs. "Have you seen a...?"

"Lookin' for this." Nick grabbed the stuffed toy from the floor, handing it over to his ex.

"Thanks." He made eye contact with him for the first time, feeling goose bumps shivering their way down his spine. "I'll be back in a minute. Make yourself at home." He turned towards the bedroom again, wishing he hadn't said that.

He wanted him to feel his wrath, not think that everything was okay.

"Okay." Nick nodded, closing the front door behind him as he stepped into the apartment. He watched the younger man walking down the hall with the toddler in his arms, curious to know everything that went on while he wasn't here. He looked around at some of the photographs as some kind of clue, but all they brought was a smile to his lips, as they were all of Greg and toddler he had with him.

Meanwhile down the hall, Greg carefully put his son down in his bed, gently placing a blanket over him. He was glad that he was asleep for this, as it would have only made things more complicated between Nick and him if he was awake.

He tucked his son's favourite teddy bear under his arm, giving out a soft sigh as he brushed his fingers back through his son's hair. "I love you, Buckaroo." He whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I want you to know him, but first I have to make sure that he never hurts us again. I can't trust him."

He reluctantly left him to his nap, knowing he'd have to face Nick sometime. He wasn't likely to leave, especially after he had just invited him inside.

Greg stepped out into the hall, carefully clicking the door shut behind him. He sucked in a deep breath, slowly making his way down the hall towards the front room, where Nick was poking around. "You can take the man out of CSI, but you can't take the CSI out of the man." The younger man smirked, folding his arms across his chest as Nick turned to face him. "Find anything interesting?"

"He's a cute kid." Nick set the photo down from his hands, before he slowly turned to face him. "I didn't know you sold the house."

"Had to." Greg shrugged, making his way through to the kitchen to unpack his groceries. He thought that he could face Nick while they talked, but he still couldn't stand to look at the man that took everything away from him. "Are you here for your half, because your folks sold it for me through one of their lawyer contacts. Since it was in your name, they kept most of it. They had a lawyer explain it all to me. If we were legal partners, I would have been entitled to half. I wasn't. I was only entitled to a small portion; what with the bills that I paid half of for those two short years that we lived together..."

"I'm not here about the house." Nick stopped him there. "I would have wanted you to keep all of it."

"Okay. Well I didn't sell your stuff or ditch it in the trash somewhere, if that's what you came back for. It's all packed up in boxes in the spare room." He pointed over his shoulder. "I kept it all. I woulda kept the place too, but it wasn't the same without you there." He pushed the fridge shut with his hip, looking round at Nick as the man joined him in the kitchen. "Aren't you going to ask about him?"

"Who?" Nick received a glare in response, as he knew exactly who he was talking about. "What's his name?"

"That's your first question," Greg unpacked the last bag into the cupboards above his head, before he folded away the bags. "It's not what you think, Nick. I haven't been with anyone since you." He grabbed himself a beer, cracking one open for the man in front of him too. "C'mon," He insisted, forcing him to take the second beer from his hands. "I don't sleep around with just anyone you know."

"If you're implyin'..."

"No." Greg cut him off, taking another swig of his beer. "He's mine, that's all that matters."

"How did you..."

"Three weeks after you left, I got sick." Greg didn't even let him ask his question, knowing what it was going to be. He decided that he wouldn't waste any more time either. He just wanted to get the explanation over and done with, so he could tell Nick the truth. "I thought I was dying or something. I felt like it half the time anyway. Ever since you left, I didn't feel as though my life was really worth living."

"What'd you do?" Nick finally took the second beer off his hands, leaning back against the counter behind him.

"I had multiple appointments with different doctors. They all kept referring me onto another specialist, then another... and another, and another... until I finally got an ultrasound done on my stomach. They thought that they were looking for some type of tumour or something, but instead they found," He reached into a drawer beside Nick, pulling out the first picture he had of his baby. "This."

"That's... not possible." The Texan immediately recognised the small square he passed to him as an ultra sound of an unborn baby.

"Trust me, it is. I'm the one that lived through it." Greg pulled himself up onto the counter, explaining, "After the ultra sound confirmed that I was just pregnant and not dying, this doctor referred me to another specialist. At first, they thought it was my unborn twin that had been growing inside me or something. Apparently that happens quite a lot in Vegas." He snickered to himself at the thought. "That theory was over and done with, as soon as they figured out that I had all the other parts. They couldn't do any real tests in case they damaged the fetus, but this doctor told me that I have an undiagnosed condition..."

Realising he was losing Nick's attention, he decided to keep it short,

"Basically, I'm a guy on the outside, but I have both insides. Something I won't exactly be advertising to my future husband." He joked, but Nick wasn't exactly in the laughing mood. "Okay, well I never noticed before because the testosterone and male hormones in my body are more dominant. My DNA even shows up as XXY and I never even noticed before. See, I'm not some creepy DNA guy after all."

"Never thought you were." Nick assured him, taking a small sip from his beer.

"Well, the last doctor I saw was some DNA, gene expert or something. He said it was pretty much a miracle that I could even get pregnant in the first place. The testosterone in my body should have overruled anything to do with the reproductive system inside me, that's why I never had a period or breast growth in the past, but one of your little swimmers managed to get through and make me pregnant."

Nick looked at him wide eyed, unable to believe what he was hearing, "This is..."

"He's your baby too, Nick." He nodded, pointing his attention towards the drawer that he had purposely left open. "Everything's in there. I tried to call you every day after I found out. Your sisters didn't even know where you were. I had your baby growing inside of me. I had no way to reach you, and I had never been more scared in my entire life."

Nick looked in the drawer beside him, finding a birth certificate. "March?" He noticed his date of birth. "That was only..."

"Five months after you left," Greg nodded, smirking, "At least now you know I didn't cheat on you. I was pregnant well before you even left."

"Colton Nicholas Stokes." He read the child's name, seeing that they were both listed as his birth parents. "Why'd you use my name if I wasn't around?"

The younger man gave him a shrug, spotting Nick's eyes glazing over with tears. "He's the only thing I had left of you. It seemed like a good idea at the time. He didn't have a name for three, almost four days. I couldn't think of anything to call him. My Dad suggested naming him after something that was important to me, but you were the most important thing to me then."

"How'd you think of this then?" He queried.

"Colt... after the beautiful colt that you introduced me to in Texas. First time I ever rode, and it was the first time that I realised that I really loved you too." He recalled the memory of the beautiful golden coloured horse, and the even more beautiful man that taught him how to ride it. "I made his middle name, Nicholas... after the first, most beautiful man that I ever loved. And I was going to make his surname, Sanders. But Stokes goes better . . . and if we were to ever get married, I was always gonna take your name." He truthfully told him, starting to feel a little less angry with him now that he was listening to him. "Say something, Nick."

Nick wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, placing the birth certificate and the ultra sound picture back in the drawer. "How did you, you know...?"

Greg placed his beer on the counter, while he slid off. He tugged his t-shirt up, stepping closer to Nick to show him the scar. "I had to have a c-section. They couldn't wait for my waters to break or anything like that, because I don't have the usual pipe work that baby's come out of."

Nick chuckled softly, realising how much he had missed the way Greg talked.

"My caesarean was scheduled for the tenth of March. They estimated that it was about forty weeks since roughly the time of conception. I stayed with my folks in LA through the last month, so I had him in hospital over there. They were both with me during the hour before the op, but only my Mom came with me into the surgery. Dad couldn't stomach the blood."

"Your Mom was with you?" Nick lifted his gaze to meet Greg's again.

"Yeah . . . I wanted it to be you." He truthfully told the man. "She wasn't too bad. She held my hand while they were doing the whole thing, which actually really helped. You have no idea how weird it feels to be wide awake when someone's doing surgery on you. My Mom cut his cord once he came out, and she held him first, while I was still pretty out of it."

Lowering his fingertips to the scar across Greg's abdomen, Nick gently stroked his finger across the full length of it, amazed that this could even happen. "He's really mine." His voice croaked with emotion. "Does he... does he know?"

"Uh huh," Greg finally dropped his t-shirt back into place. "I told him all about you. I kinda wish I hadn't told him some stuff. He's developed a sudden cowboy obsession, after your love of cowboy's. Movies, toys, pictures... everything. I still haven't figured out how to tell him the reason why you're not around, but he knows that you're his Daddy. He asks for a story about you every night. I pretty much documented everything for you too. Photos, videos, hair from his first hair cut, even his footprints and handprints." He motioned towards the wall behind, Nick.

The new father looked over his shoulder, seeing a clay imprint of a baby's hands and feet. He brushed a tear from his eye again, wishing he wasn't such an emotional wreck, so he could get his head around this. "You did all this for me?" He looked up at Greg. "Why? After I left you... I don't deserve this."

"You deserve to know your son, and he has the right to know you." Greg changed his tune, realising that Catherine was right. "That is... if you wonna meet him."

(END OF CHAPTER 4)

**Sorry, saved the reunion for the next chapter. Think Nick really needed the explanation first. Working on next chapter as I post this one though, so don't worry. I won't keep you in suspense for too long. If I don't get it finished by tonight, I'll upload it first thing in the morning :D**

**Thanks again for your reviews, glad you're enjoying it so far.**

**~ Holly x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

"Watch me, Papa. Watch me." The hyperactive toddler bounced up and down on his father's double bed, trying to get his attention, before he did the flip again. He giggled as he landed on his stomach in the middle of the bed, immediately scrambling to his feet to start again. "Where go, Papa?" He continued to bounce, looking at his father across the room. "Papa, where you go?"

"Where am I going? I told you, I'm going out with someone tonight." Greg reminded him, changing his t-shirt for the fifth time. After he told Nick everything just a few hours ago, the Texan insisted on taking him out somewhere to talk again. It felt like a date, but it was really just so he could get his head around this, before he finally met his son in person.

Greg wanted him to stay until Colt at least woke up from his nap, but Nick still needed to get his head around the fact that he had abandoned his own flesh and blood.

"Who?" The toddler gave his father a quizzical look. "Papa, who go?"

"Your usual babysitter, Ali, can't babysit you tonight." Greg changed the subject, turning to look at the toddler stood on the middle of his bed. "So I called around, and Aunt Sara is the only one available for tonight at such short notice. She's gonna be here in a few minutes, so you need to get yourself ready for bed. And Stop bouncing, I don't fancy seeing that burger you ate a second time."

"I want, Nana!" Colt started to bounce higher, shrieking as Greg grabbed him before he hurt himself. "Down, Papa. No hug." He struggled to push him away from him.

"No hug, huh?" His father chortled softly, hugging the commanding three year old tightly against his chest. "You know, I think I liked it better when you were just a baby. You didn't mind me hugging you all the time then." He teased him, playfully pressing multiple kisses to his forehead.

"I no baby, Papa. I big boy."

"Of course you are, how silly of me." Greg smiled at him, taking a seat on his bed with the toddler in his arms. "Nana would look after you, but she's still in LA, getting ready for her birthday. We'll still go to the park tomorrow, play on the swings, slide and get an ice cream. But I have to go out tonight."

"No go."

"Don't go." He corrected his child, feeling that familiar guilt creeping up on him again. "I have to go, bubba. Trust me, it's for the best." He wanted to tell him all about his Daddy returning home, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He didn't even know if Nick was really coming back. He hurried out of there faster than the first time he had left him for good. "C'mon you little monster, let's go get those pyjamas on."

"I no bath." The toddler protested, clinging to his father's side as the man climbed to his feet.

"We'll have to skip the bath tonight. I fed you and clothed you, that's two out of the three responsibilities I have to keep up. You can't fire me for that." His father joked, playfully tickling the toddler's sides. "Don't tell your Nana I said that." He carried him across the hall to his bedroom, stumbling over the loose carpet once again. "Ow, one day I'm gonna break my neck on that."

"Pwease no, Papa."

"Not on purpose." Greg pointed out to him, placing the toddler down on his bed, while he searched his drawers for some clean pyjamas. "Do you need a clean diaper?" He looked over his shoulder, catching his son shaking his head, with his fingers in his mouth. "Do you need to go potty before Aunt Sara gets here?"

"Go number one myself." He proudly stated, lifting his arms up over his head, so his father could easily lift his t-shirt up and over his head.

"Good boy." Greg knelt down in front of him. "In your diaper or on the potty?" He received a scowl in response, making him chuckle softly. "Just checking. You're still a very good boy. Nana said I still couldn't use the potty on my own when I was four. You're well ahead of your old man, and you've only just turned three."

Colt giggled softly, toppling back onto his bottom on the bed, as Greg pulled off his sneakers and jeans. "How many four?" His son held up his fingers.

Greg straightened out the little boy's little finger, giving him a smile. "That's four." He gently curled his little finger to his palm again. "And that's three. The age you are now. Remember your birthday party that we had a couple of weeks ago?"

Colt nodded softly, crawling to his feet so his father could dress him in his pyjamas. "Where you go, Papa?"

"I told you," Greg giggled as he repeated himself again. "I'm going out to dinner with someone."

"Why?" He gave him a curious look.

"Because... he's an old friend and I haven't seen him in a while, so I'm going out to dinner with him tonight."

"I go?"

"No, you can't go." Greg smiled at his son. "It's way past your bed time, and you've already eaten your dinner."

"Is a date?" He remembered something his Nana had told him about grownups.

"No, not a date. And no more questions you, I feel like I'm on trial. Can't I go out with one of my friends every once in a while?" The man tickled his child's sides, making him sweetly giggle. "I'll be back before you know it." He assured him, lifting him into his pyjama bottoms. He adjusted the elastic waist over the top of his diaper, patting his diapered little bottom once he was done. "I love you."

"I love you, Papa." The toddler pressed his lips to his father's, wrapping his arms around his shoulders as he lifted him off the bed.

"That will be your, Aunt Sara." Greg heard the door, making his way towards it with his toddler pressed against his side. "Are you gonna be a big boy for your, Aunt Sara tonight?" He asked him, getting a faint nod out of him as he reached for the door to let the woman in. "Hi, Sara."

"Hi." Sara smiled back, seeing the younger man in a whole new light with his baby against his hip. Around the lab, it was still a little hard to believe that the goofy young lab tech that they all knew and loved was really a father now. Here, it was impossible to deny. "Hi, Colt. You in your pyjamas already?" She immediately noticed his adorable blue flannel pyjamas that he was wearing.

"I boy, you a girl. Only Papa see me naked." He pointed out to her.

Sara grinned again, closing the door behind her. "So he's already fed and changed, what do you really need a babysitter for?"

"He still needs somebody to put him to bed and look after him while he's sleeping." Greg pointed out to her, realising the reason why she didn't have children of her own. "Are you sure you can manage looking after him for a couple of hours? I can always find somebody else."

"A last minute babysitter at this hour, I don't think that's possible." She smirked, nervously checking the time on her watch again, while Greg was clearing up some of the toys that littered the sofa. "How long do you think you're going to be?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, looking round at her again. "I can cancel."

"No." She didn't want to ruin the reunion for him. "No, I can manage. He's a three year old. How hard can it be?"

Greg gave out a soft chuckle, knowing she'd soon be taking that little statement back. He let the squirmy toddler down, while he led Sara through to his son's bedroom, showing her where everything was.

"Pacifiers and things are in this drawer here." Greg pulled open the top drawer to show her. "He doesn't usually need one, but he gets grouchy when he's tired. If he does, you can give him one and just gently rock him. It comforts him and it'll help him sleep." He motioned towards the rocking chair in the room. "If that doesn't work, call me. And no later than half seven for bed. If you can't get him down, you can call me..."

"Greg, I think I can put a toddler to bed." The woman assured him, even though she hadn't exactly ever done it before. It couldn't be that hard though, she managed to keep her cat alive for fifteen years.

"Okay, well... make sure you change his diaper and brush his teeth, before you read him his story. The diapers are pull ups, so he can do them himself if he wants to. And make sure he has Pancho with him, or he can't sleep." Greg showed her the fluffy teddy bear that was sat on his bed. "When you read him his story, make sure you read it slow enough so he can follow the words on the page. He likes to follow the words himself. Ooh, the night light switch is here," He leant over the bed, showing her where the switch for it was. "You can just leave it on until he's asleep, but make sure his covers aren't near it. It gets kinda hot. I should be back about half ten or so. I should really check with..."

"Greg," Sara folded her arms across his chest. "You'd think that you didn't trust me."

"I'm like this with every babysitter." He assured her, pushing back the exposed carpet flap with his foot, so no one tripped over it. "At least I don't have to drill all the emergency numbers into your head. And I know that I won't find you 'macking on the couch with your boyfriend when I come back." He grinned round at her, cheekily wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Oh and one more thing, seriously, never leave him alone for too long. If you need to go to the bathroom, hurry."

"Doesn't sound too hard." Sara shrugged, following her pseudo younger brother out into the front room. The toddler was stood against the sofa, playing with some little action figures on the cushions, making the gun noises with his mouth. Sara still wasn't quite sure if she could handle this on her own, but she wanted to see Nick and Greg back together more than anything. "You go, have a good time. I'll call if we need you. We won't though. I can handle this." She insisted, doubting herself as she said it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I can do this." Sara smiled at him. "Go, have a good time."

Greg knelt down beside his son, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Hey, I'll come and kiss you goodnight as soon as I get back, okay?" Colt nodded his head, still not sure where his father was even going. "Bye bye, bubba."

"Buh bye, Papa." His child responded, hugging his father tightly for the longest three minutes of his life, before he was finally handed over to his, Aunt Sara.

"I love you. Be a good boy." Greg grabbed his keys and cell phone, remembering, "I forgot to show you the button on his night light that plays nursery rhymes. It gets really annoying after a while, but it always sends him off to sleep."

"I'm sure I can manage to find the button." Sara giggled softly. "Go on, go."

"Okay." He turned for the door again, remembering something else. "Oh, if he gets hungry, you can heat him up some oatmeal or something." He pointed towards the box on the kitchen counter. "He probably won't, but he didn't eat all of his dinner."

"I won't let him starve, Greg."

"Okay. Bye." The young father gave his little boy a wave, before he reluctantly left the apartment.

He always hated leaving him, even if it was just for a couple of hours.

He stayed at the door a moment to make sure that he wasn't crying, remembering a few times when he had left him at day care in tears. He always ended up crying himself in the parking lot, feeling like a bad parent for abandoning him.

Colt appeared to be giggling with his Aunt Sara though, telling her what was on the agenda for the evening.

Giving out a small sigh of relief, Greg slowly made his way towards the stairs, noticing that the 'Out of Order' sign was no longer on the elevator doors. "Typical." He muttered, taking the stairs just to be on the safe side. He had arranged to pick Nick up from his hotel room, then take him out to dinner somewhere to talk.

He didn't want to get stuck in an elevator and miss out on that.

Despite his anger with the man for leaving him, he was actually really happy that he was back and relieved that he was excited about being a part of their son's life, rather than rejecting him like he had originally thought.

Greg got in his car, driving straight over to the hotel that Nick was staying in while he was in town. He wasn't sure what they were going to talk about, but he found himself getting excited to see him again. The walk to his door gave him butterflies in his stomach. His palms even started to sweat as he reached out to knock.

He started to feel even more like a hopeless teenager in love again.

He thought about making a break for it, but the door was already opening. "Hey," The Texan opened his door to him, ushering him in, while he finished buttoning his shirt across his chest. Greg knew that he hadn't seen him in a few years, but he never remembered him looking so pale and frail before. "You found a babysitter then?" He grabbed his watch off the counter.

"Yeah, Sara. She seemed really nervous about it, but I think she can handle him for a couple of hours." Greg reached into his jacket pocket, handing Nick a small stack of photos that he had picked out for him.

"What's that?"

"I picked out some photos for you to look at. I know it's never gonna make up for what you missed. But I thought you'd like to see em."

"You shouldn't be the one feelin' guilty about that." Nick led him over to the sofa, taking his seat first. "You wonna beer?"

"No, I'm good." Greg dropped to the sofa beside him, watching as Nick slowly flipped through the photos he had brought with him. His ex may have been focused on the photos, but his attention was focused on him. "Where did you wonna go?"

"Any place you want?" Nick shrugged, brushing his thumb across the first photo. It was of Greg, when he was six months pregnant. A side view of his larger stomach, giving Nick even more proof that he was telling him the truth.

"My Mom insisted that I take those ones as proof. She wanted me to do one of those casts of my belly too, but I never did go through with it."

"Wow," Nick brushed his finger around the outline of the photo, even more pissed at himself that he had missed this. "You really are beautiful." He flipped to the next picture of Greg at eight months, wishing every moment that he could turn back the clock to be there for him. "I still can't believe that this is real. I've been tryin' to get my head around this."

"How do you think I felt when I was going through it?" Greg pointed out to him, flipping the next picture for him to the first picture he had ever taken of their little boy. "He's only a couple of minutes old in that one. My Mom took it while I was still on the table. He didn't even cry when he came out. I was worried that he wasn't breathing or something, but he was just quietly sucking his fingers. Like the whole c-section or the birth part of his life didn't even faze him."

"He looks just like you." Nick looked at the baby's beautiful long eyelashes, cute little nose and pouty soft lips, feeling as though he was going to cry again. He had already cried twice since he found out. He didn't want to cry again before they went out to dinner. "He's beautiful. Amazin' even. He's even got your eyes."

"They're your eyes." Greg corrected him, smiling as Nick looked up at him with those same eyes. "I see them looking at me every day. He has deep soulful eyes, just like his Daddy."

Nick smiled back, placing his hand in Greg's.

The younger man immediately pulled his hand away, trying to distract him with the photos in his hands again. "First tooth. He didn't sleep through the night for like a month when it was coming through."

"And he's known about me all along?" Nick brushed off the cold shoulder that Greg was giving him, realising it was going to take him a while to trust him again.

"Pretty much." Greg nodded. "I wanted him to know everything about you. Even though you left when I needed you the most, you're still the most amazing man I've ever met. I didn't want to keep him in the dark about who his father was either. He deserves the right to know how amazing his Daddy is." He placed his hand back in Nick's, weaving their fingers together. "The feelings that I had for you are never gonna change, but I can't have you breaking Colt's heart, the same way you broke mine. I need to know that you're in this... for real."

"I am, Greg." He tightened his grip on the younger man's hand, relieved that he didn't pull away this time. "I came back for you. Findin' out that we have a son together... it doesn't change anythin'. Well it does, that's not what I mean. I just mean that it doesn't change the fact that I still want you."

"I want you too." Greg blurted it out, giving Nick a nervous smile as he didn't mean to say it so loud. "I just have to make sure that its right. I know you're sorry and you say that you want me back, but you hurt me, Nick. I trusted you more than I've ever trusted anybody."

"I know." Nick took his hand back. "I wish I could reverse what I've done, but I can't. I ruined what we had, and I'm gonna have to live with that for the rest of my life. I don't expect you to forgive me right away. I wouldn't want you to. But you can trust that I'm not goin' away again."

"Can I?" He looked into the Texan's eyes. "After four years together, I thought you would have at least called or written to me. But you didn't. You've only been back five minutes; can I really trust that you're not going to do it again?"

Nick diverted his attention to the photos in his hands again, unsure of what to say. He knew that there wasn't anything he could say or do that would suddenly make Greg trust him again. It took him a while when they first started dating to trust him. He had no idea how long it would take this time around. "A full head of hair." He stopped on a picture of their son without his hat on. "My Mama said I was born bald."

"Me too, so I don't know who he got that from." He grinned.

Nick stopped on a picture of his son curled into a little bundle, with nothing on but a pacifier in his mouth. He was the most perfect, beautiful newborn that he had ever seen, and he was his own flesh and blood.

"Greg . . . I realise how wrong I was now." He tore his eyes away from the photo, looking at the man in front of him. "I was only thinkin' of myself. I should never have left, I know that now." He turned to face him completely, taking both of his hands in his own. "I love you, and I know I'm gonna love him too, because I already do and I haven't even met him yet. I'd never hurt him, and I'll do anythin' I can to make it up to you. You have to believe me. I never meant to hurt you, Greg. That's the last thing I wanted to do."

"I know." Or at least, he thought he did. "So eh... are you ready to go to dinner then?" He climbed to his feet, avoiding direct eye contact with the man as he wiped away a tear threatening to pool from his eye.

Nick nodded slightly, quickly looking through a few more of the photos. He eventually stuffed them into his jacket pocket, wishing that Greg wasn't so cold towards him, but it was to be expected after what he did to him. He grabbed for his wallet, knowing he had to tread carefully on this reunion dinner with his former boyfriend.

If he didn't, he might never get the chance to get back with him, and he'd never get to meet his son.

"So, where we goin'? Anywhere you want, my treat."

(END OF CHAPTER 5)

******Thanks for all of your reviews!**

******Just thought you'd like to know I've based Colt's toddler speech on my next door neighbour's son. His name is William and he's two at the moment, but he can say quite a lot. Colt's 'Papa, down' speech every time Greg picks him up is a direct quote from William. As soon as anyone picks him up or baby's him, he always says, 'Mama, down', 'no, hug' or 'get down now.'**

******~ Holly x**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"Where have you been?" Greg didn't waste any time in asking his date the question that had been pressing against his mind. When the man didn't answer him right away, he leant back against the wall behind him, starting to get bored. They had been stood waiting for a table at one of their past favourite steak houses for the past half hour now. So maybe he did waste a little time, he just wasn't sure what to say to him at first. "Was it some exotic country, with belly dancing babes and those tall drinks with weird fruit sticking out the top."

"Is that what you've been picturin' me doin' this whole time?" Nick asked, smiling round at him. "You have a wild imagination, G."

"If I remember correctly, that's what you used to like about me." Greg turned his wrist checking the time on his watch. He checked his phone for the hundredth time, just to make sure that Sara hadn't tried to call him. "Was I too much for you?" He lifted his gaze to meet Nick's again. "Is that why you left me?"

"I didn't leave you."

"But you did, Nick. It doesn't matter if I wasn't the main reason behind it all, you did leave me." He pointed out to him, trying not to raise his voice. The couple in front of them could probably hear everything, and they didn't exactly look the friendly sort. The man was large, muscle wise, with vulgar tattoos marking every inch of his arms. His wife wasn't exactly easy on the eyes either; she was butch and she could probably crush Greg, without him even knowing what hit him.

"Greg." Nick waved his hand in front of the younger man's face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you still thinkin' about, Colt? I'm sure Sara can handle him for a couple of hours. If you're that worried, we can always call this off."

"No, I'm sure he's fine." He tapped his watch, hoping, "He's probably in bed by now anyway." He sighed softly, watching the host leading away another couple to their table. "Why's this place so busy? It was practically empty the last time we came here."

"Day after your meetin' with your publisher." Nick remembered their short lived celebration. It was also the last time that they were together alone. The day after, the whole team met for breakfast, before Greg was due to leave for his flight to LA.

They lost Warrick that very same day.

"I'm sorry about your book... I heard..."

"Doesn't matter." Greg sighed again, giving Nick a small smile. "My Mom said I was wasting my time writing about dried up gangsters of Old Las Vegas. Maybe she was right." He looked down at his hands, explaining, "When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was grow up and discover something. I just wanted to make my mark in the world, like anybody does really. I thought my book would be my way of doing that . . . but it doesn't even come close."

"Close to what?" The Texan gave him a curious look.

"Colt." Greg grinned at him, tilting his head back against the wall behind him. "And I can't even take full credit for him. He grew inside me, but I didn't really contribute anything to his creation. Your soldiers did all the work in getting me pregnant. Then the doctors cut him out of me once he was done growing. I didn't really do anything."

"You did more than you know." Nick lowered his hand to his side, lacing his fingers between the younger man's. "You contributed to half his DNA. You kept him alive, fed and warm, until he was ready to come out. And you're still doin' all of that now." He glanced up as the couple in front continued to give them a dodgy look, before he suggested, "You wonna go someplace else?"

"Thought you'd never ask." He was off the wall like a shot, leading the way to the door with Nick's hand still in his own. "How about we stick with the usual?" Greg turned round to look at him, walking backwards towards the street. The older man looked up to see where he was pointing, spotting a Chinese take away shop right across the street from them.

"Are you sure?"

Instead of giving him a real answer, Greg playfully tugged him across the street with him, as soon as the traffic was clear. He pushed the door to the shop open with his elbow, walking straight up to the counter with Nick to order their usual.

They didn't fancy eating in the diner with everyone looking at them, so they took their seats in Greg's car, just like they used to do when they were working a shift. "So you had, Colt, five months after I left," Nick roughly calculated the date off the top of his head. "If it was roughly four months before that I got you pregnant . . . that was around about the time that we were at the ranch with my folks."

Greg licked his lips, giving Nick a smile as he remembered their last night there. "You think the Brokeback mountain scene was what did it?" He giggled, handing Nick the pot of spring rolls, remembering that they were his favourite. "Truthfully, I thought that the romantic setting you chose was a little corny. Watching the sun go down in the middle of nowhere was never exactly my idea of romance."

"You enjoyed it in the end."

"I didn't complain." He graced the man with a smile. "I said that it was never exactly my idea of romance before. That night that we had together completely changed that. And for the record, I hope it was that night that you got me pregnant. You made me feel like the only man alive." He leant back in his seat, bringing his knee up to his chest. "Why'd you leave, Nicky?" He turned his head to the side, watching the man he used to know anxiously biting his lower lip. "Is it so hard for you to tell me the truth?"

"No. I want to." He mirrored his partner's actions, looking into his eyes.

"What's stopping you?"

Nick responded with a shrug, keeping his eyes on Greg's.

"I thought I knew the reason why you left, or at least I think I did." Greg confessed, "We had never lost anybody close to us before. As far as I know, you haven't lost any family before, so you didn't know what it was like to lose someone. When you lost, Warrick, that was it for you. We deal with death every day, but they're not people that we knew before they were dead. We meet them on the day that they died, so it's natural for us not to miss them or grieve them. But Warrick was family."

"I don't wonna talk about him." Nick averted his gaze, not even touching his food anymore.

"Okay." Greg sighed softly, realising he wasn't going to get anything out of the man. He continued to avoid all of his questions, making it impossible for him to learn anything about where he had been or who he had been with. "Do you think I should call, Sara?" He checked the time on his watch again. It was nearly nine thirty now. He was hoping that his son had been asleep this whole time, but he never usually went to sleep right away with anyone but him.

"You can if you want, but I'm sure he's fine." The man knew who he was really worried about. "C'mon, let's call it a night. I'm gettin' tired anyway. You can go home and check on, Colt."

"Bored of me already?" Putting his leg down in disappointment, Greg asked, "Don't you want to come back with me to see him? He's your son, Nicky. You've barely asked me anything about him, it's like you're not even interested in him."

"Of course I am."

"Ask me something about him then." He pleaded, trying not to lose his temper with him. "You clam up every time I try and ask you something. What was the point in even coming out with me, if you don't even want to talk to me?"

"I do."

"Show some interest in your son then."

"I am interested." The man argued, "I just feel guilty every time we talk about him. I can't take any credit for him. I feel as though I have no right to call him mine, because I walked out on you both. How am I ever goin' to make it up to the both of you? I was strugglin' over what it would be like to make it up to you, but now there's two of you and I don't know what to do." His voice croaked with emotion, barely managing to hold back his tears. "I do want to know him. I want to know everythin' about him, but I've already missed so much."

Placing his hand on Nick's leg, Greg whispered, "Well, you better get started then, cowboy. You've got a lot of time to make up for."

"And I will, I promise... but I don't know what to do."

"I can help you with that." Greg gave him a smile, relieved that he had broken the first layer of Nick's shell and got through to him. "C'mon, come back with me. You can make the first step tonight and watch him while he's sleeping."

Nick gave out a smirk, wiping away the tear from his cheek. "You make it sound so easy."

"It is." Taking hold of Nick's hand, Greg whispered, "First step is the easiest one. It'll be even easier if we take it together."

(END OF CHAPTER 6)

**Just a short one for today, I have Tuesday and Thursday off from work though, so I should be able to update during the week rather than just weekends like most of you were used to with my last stories. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm not keeping you from your last minute Christmas shopping :{ Or maybe your more organised than me and you've already done it. :D**

**Have a good week, whether you're still working or off on holidays already!**

**~ Holly x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

After thanking Sara for her last minute babysitting, Greg made sure that the apartment was locked up, before he ushered the father of his child towards the room down the hall. Dinner together was just like old times, as though they hadn't spent a single moment apart. It felt more like a date then an opportunity to grill his ex about why he left him. Probably because Nick wouldn't even answer him a single question about where he had been, but the reason didn't even matter to him anymore.

He just wanted to get their life back on track.

The three of them together this time.

Leading Nick into the bedroom, Greg made his way over to the window to adjust the curtains, while Nick stood beside the child's bed, anxiously looking at the toddler sleeping in it.

"He won't bite." Greg whispered to him, kneeling down the opposite side of the bed to tuck him in. "He looks just like you when he's sleeping. This is his first bed. A couple of months ago, he was still in the crib in my room. He spent most nights sleeping on the bed with me though. Don't worry; I didn't roll over on him. I never really slept while he was on my bed." He continued his nervous over talking, as he wasn't really sure what he could say to Nick.

He looked up at the older man in the room, smiling as he didn't know what to say or do himself. It reminded him of himself when Colt first came along, when he was relying on his mother twenty four seven to show him what to do with this little life that he was now responsible for.

"It's alright. You'll get the hang of it after a while." The younger man assured him, gently pressing a kiss to his toddler's moist little forehead. "Don't get used to this... I mean his stillness." He corrected himself, seeing the look in Nick's eyes. "He's never this still during the day. When he's awake, he's never still. Some part of him is always moving. He's really hyperactive and lively. He can be a handful at times, but I wouldn't change him for anything in the world."

"Just like you then." Nick smirked, taking a closer look at his flesh and blood. He looked like a miniature Greg, but he had the same hairstyle as Nick. "You've done a really good job with him, G."

"It doesn't always feel like I am." He brushed his fingertip across the toddler's forehead, confessing, "Having a baby alone was the scariest thing I've ever done with my life. He's a whole separate being. A new life that grew inside of me, created from our love, but I have no control over him. After he was born, I thought I'd feel different, like I'd suddenly become paternal over night or something. But it really didn't work out like that. I was still me, just with a baby now. I thought I could handle it, but then I realised that he was completely dependent on me for everything. Three years later and he still is, and I still have no idea if I'm doing everything right."

"From what I can see you are."

"Thanks, but you haven't been here when he's screaming the roof down. I'm in tears because I don't know what's wrong with him, and the only thing I can do is call my mother and hope that she has some secret cure to make him stop." He gently placed his hand on the boy's head, continuing, "Other times I'm scared that I can't love him enough. I love him all the time, but sometimes it doesn't feel like enough. He expects me to be able to parent him, the way normal grown up people do, but I'm not like that."

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Nick spoke softly, finally kneeling down the other side of the bed. "You've been a grown up for a while now. Ever since you joined the lab, I've watched you grow into the man you are today."

The younger man smiled back at him, before he reached out for Nick's hand across the bed. "He's a very heavy sleeper. You can hold his hand."

"I..."

"He's your baby, Nick." He gave him the reassurance again. "You never got the chance to hold his hand when he was born. You missed out on it. He used to wrap his little fingers around mine all the time. He really has a strong grip."

Nick was hesitant to touch his hand though, not wanting to wake the sleeping little angel for the world. "He's adorable, G. You've done an amazin' job with him. I should get goin' though." He pointed over his shoulder towards the door.

"Why?" Greg asked him, suddenly feeling like his toddler himself. "Can't you stay a little while?"

"Greg." Nick looked down at their hands. "I want you back too, but I don't want you to forgive me too quickly. I told you this. You're blind when it comes to your love for me. Your mother warned you about that dozens of times, and she was right. I should go." He climbed to his feet, turning for the door.

"Wait." Greg turned the night light off beside him, carefully tiptoeing out the room after Nick. "Can you stay for just a little while?" He dragged him back towards the front room. "I want to know where you've been, what you've been doing... and don't spare me the details because you think it's going to hurt me. I want to know."

"Greg..." Nick anxiously scratched at the hairs on the back of his neck. "I don't think now is the time."

"When is? Seriously Nick, are you gonna do another runner and leave me hanging again?" He made his way to the kitchen, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge door. "I've told you everything. You haven't told me a thing about what you've been doing. What's the big secret?" He flipped off the lid to his beer, showing signs of the familiar pissed mood that Nick used to experience after Greg had long days at the lab. "Huh? Speak to me then." He turned to face him. "Don't you think that you owe me some kind of explanation of where you even went? Vacation in Hawaii or a field trip to Alaska?"

"I'm gonna go." Nick made his way to the door, stopping as Greg suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his exit. "What do you want me to say, Greg?"

"I don't want you to say anything. I want you to tell me the truth." He practically shouted at him. "You've been dodging the question all night, what's the big deal? Were you with someone else, is that why you left me? Have you been with them the whole time?"

"No." Nick firmly shook his head, feeling even more vulnerable as Greg continued his attack on him. "It wasn't like that. I haven't been with anyone since you."

"So what's the big secret?" He leant against the door behind him. "If there's nobody else, then stay with me. I know I've always been in over my head in love with you, but why is that such a bad thing? I don't want us to be apart for another moment. I already let you go once. I don't want to make that mistake again. When I told you to get lost earlier, I immediately knew that wasn't what I wanted. I want you back, Nick."

"Not tonight." Nick took a step away from him. "It's too much too soon."

"It's not. Why do you always have to do this to me? You get me right where you want me, just so you can walk all over me."

"That's not what this is about." He protested, taking a step closer to Greg. "I love you, more than you'll ever know. Which is why I'm goin'. If I stay, I'll only end up hurtin' you again." He brushed away the tear from Greg's cheek, feeling all his guilt coming back on him. "Greg, I don't want to hurt you again."

"Don't go then."

"Greg." The older man sighed, thinking that tonight was a mistake. "I can't... I can't do this now. Can you let me out, please? You know I'm claustrophobic."

"Another attack on the apartment?" Stepping away from the door, Greg made his way over to the sofa, crashing against the cushions with his beer. "I can't believe you don't even want to meet your own son. You keep giving me excuses. Just come out and say it Nick, you don't want to meet him, because you can't handle the responsibility. You're just a typical straight guy when it comes to taking care of your kids."

"That isn't true." Nick took a few steps closer to the sofa. He didn't really want to get into a heated debate with the man, but he didn't want Greg to be this pissed at him after their first day together either. "Greg, I want to meet him. I want us to get back together too, like a real family."

"A fresh start?" He sat up straight. "How can we do that when you're still lying to me? I understand that you went through a lot after we lost Warrick, but who stays away for three years doing nothing? You must have done something."

Nick closed his eyes, thinking that now was the perfect time to spill the truth to him, but he didn't want it to be the reason that he took him back. "I can't." He shook his head, turning his back on Greg.

Setting his beer on the coffee table, Greg sprang to his feet, grabbing Nick's arm to stop him from leaving him again. "Okay, so you don't want to tell me the truth, but you owe me some kind of explanation. Was it me that you were trying to get away from? Did I do something that made you want to up and leave? If it was about, Warrick, why didn't you come to me? I could have helped you. You didn't have to go."

"I can't change what I did. I wish to God that I could, but I can't." Nick stopped him there, turning to face him again. "It really wasn't anythin' to do with you though. I loved you, I still do. I regretted it every second that I was away from you."

"Don't go again then." He repeated what he said before, starting to sound a little crazy with his sudden mood changes. "Stay with me, stay with your son. I love you. I still loved you, every second that you were gone. I want you back. I always have. You keep talking about this real family stuff, well your real family is right here and you're walking out on us."

Nick couldn't deny that he really did want to stay, but he didn't want to be selfish anymore. "Greg..." He wrapped his arms around the younger man, holding him tightly in his embrace. He held him for the longest ten minutes of Greg's life, in complete silence. "Greg, I would love to start again with you. I really would, but I've hurt you too much for that. This is exactly what I didn't want. I didn't want you to forgive me this quickly. I want the wrath of Greg." He smiled against his hairline. "I think I'd prefer it."

"I haven't forgiven you completely." Greg lifted his head from the man's shoulder, looking into his deep soulful eyes. The relaxing embrace had calmed him down a bit, but he still didn't want him to leave him again. "I just don't want you to go. I want you to stay with me."

"Greg..."

"Just to sleep, nothing else has to happen."

"Greg..."

"Wouldn't you rather sleep in a bed with me than a hotel bed that's loaded with bacteria?"

Nick opened his mouth to speak again, getting a finger to his lips this time.

"C'mon Nicky, you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the sofa. Don't make me beg." He gave him the familiar puppy dog look. "Please. Please."

"Alright, I'll stay." Nick gave in, resting his forehead against the younger man's. "Clothes and covers on. Shouldn't I sleep on the couch though?" He motioned over his shoulder, towards the toddler's bedroom behind him. "Won't he wake up and see us?"

"Will it matter if he does? We're not doing anything wrong. We're his parents." He pointed out to him, taking the man by the hand to lead him down the hall to his room. He pushed his bedroom door open, inviting the man inside.

Nick placed his hands on the doorframe, stopping himself from going any further. "Greg, I can't."

"C'mon baby, there's nothing to be scared of. It's just me." He reached out for both of Nick's hands on the doorframe, giving him a gentle tug into the room. "Doncha want everything back?"

"Yeah... I do." Nick smiled at him, wondering what he was so worried about. He took a step closer, pressing his lips to Greg's for the first time in three years. "You have no idea how long I've waited to do that."

"I have a pretty good idea." Greg grinned against his lips, tugging him backwards towards his bed by his belt loops. The double bed was wedged against the wall, with bedside tables either side of it. He had no use for one side of the bed, so it didn't matter that there was no space beside it. The other side of the bed was Colt's crib, currently filled with some toys and a few folded clothes, with a wardrobe beside that. "Don't judge." The younger man saw the look in Nick's eyes.

"I'm not. But... is this place really all you could afford? It's a cupboard."

"At short notice," Greg nodded, kicking his sneakers off. "It was never meant to be long term, but I didn't exactly have the time to look for another apartment or a house." He dropped back onto his bed, patting the spot beside him. "C'mon baby, I've missed you."

"You know I hate it when you call me, baby." Nick took a seat beside him, pressing their lips together again. He broke it off a few seconds later, feeling the guilt creeping back on him. "You said just to sleep. I feel like I'm takin' advantage of you. Greg, seriously think about this for a second. I've only been back for a day, and you're draggin' me into your bed already." He pointed out to him. "This isn't like you at all. You usually hold grudges for months."

Instead of answering the man, Greg tugged his own t-shirt up over his head, crawling back towards his pillows. He wriggled his way under the covers, removing his jeans once he was out of sight. He gave Nick a smile as he tossed his jeans over the side of the bed, before he patted the bed beside him,

"Your turn, cowboy."

"God I've missed you." The older man kicked off his shoes, crawling across the bed towards the pillows. He lay himself down beside Greg, looking deep into his eyes as he held him close. "You have no idea what you do to me. If you did, you know I'd never go with anyone else. I only have eyes for you." He brushed his thumb across the younger man's chin, giving him a smile as they continued to look into one another's eyes. "I hate myself for what I did to you."

"I never hated you." Greg set the record straight. "I loved you. I hated me more than you. I thought that I had screwed it up between us and you left because of me." He put his finger to Nick's lips, stopping him from saying anything. "I've waited for you to come back to me for three years. I may have been a little hostile at first, but I still love you. I can't deny my feelings for you. Isn't this what you wanted when you came back?"

"Wa-wa-wait," Nick stopped the younger man from going any further. It was obvious at this point that he wanted a lot more than to just sleep beside him. "Greg... I can't."

"What are you so scared of?" His bed mate whispered against his lips. "It's just me. You've been with me hundreds of times."

"It's different now. I don't want to take advantage of you."

"Okay." Feeling Nick shaking against him, Greg slid his arms around the man's waist, holding him tightly against his side. "Just don't go, okay? I want you to stay. I'm completely level headed and I'm not feeling vulnerable, so you're not taking advantage of me. I just want you to stay. To really stay, with us here. Wouldn't you rather stay with us then alone in your hotel room?"

"Yeah." The Texan placed his arm around Greg, looking into his eyes as they lay beside each other. "But I don't want you doin' me any favours."

"It won't be a favour, this is where you belong."

The man leant forwards, lightly nipping at the younger man's lips for a kiss. He stopped himself from going any further, whispering, "Thanks for givin' me a second chance."

"Really this is only your first chance, your first real chance to be a father. You can't miss out on that."

Nick gave him a smile, gently caressing his partner's slimmer body, wishing he had known that he was pregnant before he left. He realised that he should have noticed the signs. He had noticed that Greg was putting on a bit of weight at the time, but he thought that it was just his stress eating after they had lost, Warrick.

He had no idea that it was because he was four months pregnant.

"I'm never gonna leave you again."

(END OF CHAPTER 7)

**Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter, where Nick finally gets to meet his son :D**

**~ Holly**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

Awaking to the bright morning sunlight, Nick let out a soft groan, rolling over onto his side. The pillow beneath him immediately filled his nostrils with the familiar scent of the man he adored, reminding him of where he was. He opened one eye to make sure, seeing a crib in front of him, full of cuddly toys. A teddy bear with the alphabet printed on his chest was the most noticeable. There was a soft green dinosaur beside him, a few golden teddy bears with ribbons tied around their necks and a large bunny with velcro on his hands.

He knew that they were his son's, but they didn't feel familiar to him. They just looked like ordinary children's toys to him.

He turned his head to the side, looking at clock sat on the bedside table. It was still pretty early for him, but he could hear voices coming from somewhere. From the sounds of it, Greg and their child were already up and in the kitchen. He dropped his head back to the pillow, listening to their giggling from the other room, finding it very soothing.

"There goes the apples," Greg dropped the thinly diced apples into the mixture. "Make sure you mix it up good." He pressed a kiss to the toddler's forehead, before he reached for his spices rack in the cupboard above him. "Remember what this is called?" He held it up to his son.

"Cim-am-moon." Colt sweetly answered, holding the bowl in front of him with one hand, while he mixed it with the spoon in the other. His father had sat him on the work top beside him, with the mixing bowl beside him.

"Close, it's cinnamon." His father shook a decent amount into the mixture, holding the bowl steady as his son started to mix it up a little quicker. "Okay, that's about done. You have to get off the counter now, bubba." He moved the bowl out the way, so he could lift the little boy onto his hip. "Hold out your hands." He wiped his son's sticky little hands with the baby wipes he always kept handy. "There you go." He set him on the floor beside him.

"Papa, I messy." The little boy tugged his pyjama top away from his chest, showing him the milk and flour he had down himself.

"You better take it off then. Go and ditch it in the hamper, I'll wash it later." Greg ushered him out of the kitchen, so he could get on with frying the apple and cinnamon pancake mixture together.

The three year old wandered off down the hall, struggling to tug his top off over his head. It was a button down pyjama shirt, and he hadn't undone any of the buttons, so he was finding it more than a little difficult to tug it over his head.

He was about to turn back to the kitchen for some help, when the door in front of him suddenly opened. Looking up wide eyed and open mouthed at the man in front of him, Colt realised that his birthday wish had finally come true. He was a lot bigger than he expected him to be, but he was real and he was here.

That was all that mattered to him.

Before the man in front of him could run away or open his mouth to speak, the little boy smiled, whispering, "Daddy," in an excitable little voice.

"What did you say?" Greg called down the hall to him.

He turned the oven off as there was no response, quickly hurrying down the hall to see where the toddler had got to. He found the toddler stood in his open bedroom door, presuming he had noticed that Nick was asleep in his bed. As he got closer though, he saw that Nick was knelt down in front of him, showing him the college ring that he had on his finger.

The child had immediately noticed it, asking him a million questions about it already.

"I-I hold it." Colt reached his little hands out for it, anxiously watching the man slipping it off his finger, before he placed it in his curious little hands. "Papa, look." He noticed his father behind him. "He Daddy, Papa. He come back." He indicated towards the man in front of him, as if Greg didn't know he was there.

"Yeah, he came back." Greg smiled at his reinstated boyfriend, slowly kneeling down beside his toddler as the boy studied the ring in his hands. The expression on his little boy's face was like gold; a priceless expression that he had been waiting to see for a long time. "Are you gonna give your Daddy a big hug?" He knew his son had been waiting to meet and hug his real father for a long time, after hearing so much about him and seeing lots of pictures of him around the house.

"No." The toddler responded.

"No? Why no?" Greg playfully poked his son in the sides, sensing that he was just a little shy. "Do you remember what you said on your birthday? You said that more than anything, you wanted to give your Daddy a big hug." He reminded him.

For the first time, his little boy shied away into his embrace, nervously looking at the man he only knew as his father stood in front of him.

"It's alright." Nick spoke for the first time. "He doesn't really know me."

Greg looked up at the man in front of him, feeling guilty as he wanted their first time to go a little smoother than this. His son never shied away around anyone. He gently tickled his son's sides, suggesting, "Do you want to ask your Daddy if he wants to have breakfast with us?"

"Want to come breakfast?" He sweetly asked the man, giving Nick an offer he couldn't refuse with his puppy dog eyes.

"I would love to have breakfast with you." Nick replied, taking his ring back as the toddler held his adorable little hand out to him. He smiled as the child immediately clung to Greg's t-shirt, wanting to be picked up. He knew it was his own fault that his child was afraid to be around him. He didn't mind though, he was prepared to give him the time that he needed to get used to him.

"C'mon then," Greg lifted his child into his arms as he climbed to his feet. "We better go eat before it gets cold."

From his position on Greg's hip, Colt reached out for Nick's hand, ushering him towards the kitchen with them, "Come, Daddy."

"Okay." Nick took the child's tiny hand in his own, following them off towards the kitchen. "Mmmm, that smells good."

"I made it." He declared, wriggling in Greg's arms as soon as they stepped foot in the kitchen. "Papa, down."

"Okay." His father set the demanding little boy onto the floor beside him. "Wait a second; let's take this sticky top off you first." He unbuttoned a few buttons of the toddler's pyjama top, lifting it up over his head.

As soon as the top was out of the way, the toddler weaved through Greg's legs to get to one of the drawers in the kitchen.

"Hey, what are you doing, bubba?" Greg stopped him from going in the cutlery drawer, not wanting him to hurt himself on any of the knives in there. "What are you looking for? You don't need to go in there." Colt whined in protest, trying to open the drawer again. "No, you don't need to go in there. Tell me what you want and I'll get it for you."

"Papa, I wh-dra..." The toddler rambled, joining random words together, trying to explain what he wanted. He continued to pout and moan, trying to pull the drawer open, but his father kept stopping him.

"Wait, wait. I'll do it." Greg stopped him, handing him two adult sized forks, then the toddlers own cutlery for his highchair. "There you go. Be careful." He patted him on the head, turning his attention back to the sizzling pancakes in front of him.

Colt slowly walked back towards the dining table they had wedged against the wall. He leant up on his tiptoes, placing the adult sized forks where he wanted his parents to sit. "Papa, in chair." He demanded, pointing towards his highchair.

"One second baby, I'm cooking." His father called back to him.

"In chair." He jumped up and down in protest. "I want in chair, Papa."

"In a minute. I'm busy."

"Papa, I want do it now." Colt pleaded.

"Well I can't, my hands are full. You know, your Daddy can lift you into your chair." Greg pointed out to his impatient toddler, while he made up the rest of the batter into pancakes.

Realising his father wasn't going to tend to his wishes, Colt turned to look at the man still stood by the door. Instead of asking him, he ducked under his high chair, crawling on his hands and knees towards the front room.

"Don't get your knife and fork dirty." Greg called after him, fearing he was going to slash his wrist or something, even with a plastic knife in his hand.

"I'll get him." Nick stopped the younger man from abandoning the pancakes again. He realised that he'd have to step in eventually. He wasn't just a guest in their lives, he was Colt's father. "Colt." He followed him into the front room, only making the child giggle and decide to hide under the coffee table.

Colt lay himself down on his back beneath the table, cheekily grinning as Nick knelt down beside the table to look at him.

"Gimme the knife and fork so you don't hurt yourself."

A giggle erupted from the boy's delicate little throat, as he rolled away so Nick couldn't reach him. He crawled out the other side on his hands and knees, disappearing between the two sofas in the front room. His father followed the sounds of little hands and knees tapping against the floor, catching him as he reappeared out the other end.

Colt wriggled away with an adorable giggle, just managing to turn himself around to crawl out the other way on the knees. He peeked out over the end table, landing on his diapered bottom as he ducked away from Nick. His father thought he might have hurt himself, but he gave out a giggle the second he saw his Nick's face.

"You're a cheeky little monkey, aren't you?" Nick gently pulled him out from between the sofas, tickling his bare little sides. His toddler managed to wriggle away, crawling behind the man. He hoisted himself up onto the sofa, holding the knife and fork behind his back, out of his father's reach.

Nick immediately exploded into a grin himself, before he reached out for the little boy.

He had always fantasised about having a child of his own someday. He hadn't quite imagined it like this, but his eyes were firmly open to the reality of his real world now.

Colt gave out an excitable shriek, allowing his father to lift him from the sofa into his arms. His father was a little shaky holding him at first, but he soon found an easy solution to comfortably holding him against his side. He studied his little fingers and hands, while his son curiously studied the watch around his father's wrist.

From the kitchen, Greg glanced over his shoulder, smiling as his child actually allowed Nick to pick him up. More importantly, they didn't look like strangers to each other anymore.

"Daddy, can lift in chair?" The toddler finally directed the man's attention towards his highchair.

Nick responded with a smile, carrying his son through to the next room. The inexperienced father struggled to gently hold his baby against his side, as well as adjusting the buckles and straps inside the highchair. He thought that there must have been a simpler way of doing this, but he couldn't see it.

Before Greg could step in and help him, Nick slid the tot into the seat, figuring out how to secure the strap around his legs and waist on his own.

"Okay, it's ready." Greg made his way into the dining area with the three plates. He set the smallest on the highchair tray table, giving Nick a smile as he had taken his first step into fatherhood. "Nicky, where are you sitting?"

"I sit Daddy." Colt declared.

"Okay." The younger man moved the highchair closer to the table, so their little boy was sitting beside, Nick. "Just try not to fling any bits Daddy's way." He chuckled, taking a seat the other side of him. He kept his eye on his partner beside him, smiling as for once the man was more interested in something that wasn't food.

His son.

He watched his every move in admiration, wishing once again that he had never left.

"You like your pancakes, Nicky?" Greg asked him, getting a faint nod as the man hadn't even tried them yet. His attention was focused elsewhere.

Despite having a fork in his hand, their son picked up the little pieces of pancake with his fingers, placing them in his mouth. He swung his legs backwards and forwards as he chewed the little pieces, glancing up every so often to watch what each of his fathers were doing.

"Papa, Daddy stay f'ever now?"

Greg looked at the Texan in front of him, waiting for him to answer that question. Although he didn't quite understand the toddler's adorable gabbled words like Greg did, he knew exactly what his son was asking, as he would have been asking the same thing if he were in his position.

"Yeah." Nick spoke softly, giving his baby a wide smile. "I'm stayin' forever."

(END OF CHAPTER 8)

**Just quickly upload this before I rush off for an early Christmas dinner with the family.**

**Enjoy!**

**~ Holly x**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

After his first morning with his son, Nick couldn't get enough of him. He crashed out on the carpet with him after breakfast, watching the little miracle's every move. The child crawled across the floor on his hands and knees, pushing along the toy cars he was playing with. Every time he moved one of his little legs forwards, the diaper beneath his pyjama bottoms crinkled, reminding Nick of when he used to watch his nieces and nephews crawling around back at the ranch. He had always envied his brother and sisters for what they had, now he finally had one of his own, but he had missed out on some of the most important parts of his life.

His birth for one thing, but there was so much more...

First cry. First smile. First laugh. First time he rolled over. First time he started to crawl. First time he stood up or even took his first steps. First sound he made or word that he spoke. Or even the first time that he called Greg, Papa.

"Daddy, look." Colt held up the race car in front of him. "I paint it."

"You painted it?" Nick took the car off his hands, smiling as he took a closer look at the brush strokes across the sides of the car. Before he could turn it to see the other side, a little hand clamped down over the car, snatching it away.

"I hold it."

"Sorry." He smiled, watching Colt getting back to his game. "You know, I used to make cars. Not real ones, toys like yours."

"Papa show me." Colt knelt down in front of his father. "No play 'dough."

"No play?" He gave him a curious look, but he had lost his child's attention in the conversation already. His son scrambled away on his knees, causing a crash between two of his cars. He grabbed another that he had shot towards the sofa earlier, making it drive right over the wreckage, using the broken down cars as a ramp.

He drove the daredevil car straight towards Nick, using his hand as a ramp this time.

With every moment they spent together, Nick realised that Colt was starting to grow a little more confident around him. Greg was in the bedroom packing up their things for their weekend away at his mother's, so it was just the two of them in the front room at the moment, giving them a chance to finally get to know one another.

Colt used Nick's knee to climb to his feet, handing him the truck he had in his hands, while he waddled across the carpet to pick up another car that he had crashed against the coffee table leg. He crawled under the table to pick it up, misjudging how far away the table was.

The second his little head collided with the hard table above him, the little boy burst into tears.

"Ooh," Nick rushed to his aid, carefully lifting the crying infant out into his arms. He held the child close against his chest, anxiously checking his head to see if there was any visible damage.

His child had been with him for less than an hour, and he was already in tears of pain.

"What happened?" Greg hurried into the front room, recognising his son's familiar cry from anywhere. As soon as he reached the coffee table, he saw Colt crying against his partner's chest. He knelt down beside him, instinctively taking his whimpering child off Nick's hands as his baby boy reached out for him.

"He bumped his head on the table." The Texan gently smoothed his hand up and down his baby's bare little back, feeling guilty as it was his responsibility to look after him.

"That mean old table bump you on the head again?" The younger man gently rocked his toddler in his arms, pecking multiple kisses to his little forehead. He looked up at Nick in front of him, assuring him, "It wasn't your fault. He's always bumping his head on things. Nana Jean says you should wear a crash helmet twenty four seven, doesn't she?" He pressed another kiss to the toddler forehead, checking for any sign of a bump. "Looks okay. I suggest we keep you under twenty four hour observation and prescribe lots of kisses and cuddles." He playfully tickled him, hugging him a little tighter.

With his thumb in his mouth, Colt clung to his father's chest, closing his eyes as he listened to the soothing sound of his father's voice.

"You sure he's alright?" Nick wondered how he was so calm about this. He was a nervous wreck, and he had always been the more confident of the two around injuries.

"Yeah, I'm sure. You can tell when it's really bad, because he has a different cry and he doesn't stop like this when you hold him." Greg expertly told him, having got used to his son's different cries over the years. "So, you know it's my mother's birthday this weekend," He looked at Nick in front of him, keeping hold of their beautiful little boy in his arms. "Colt and I are heading over there to spend the weekend with her. Would you like to come with us? We're gonna go swimming; make sand castles at the seaside. I can call ahead so she knows that you're coming. This way, you can spend some real time with your son and me."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Nick spoke without even thinking, "The reunion of the mother in law, not the other part." He assured him, noticing that Colt's chest had stopped hitching. "She's not exactly goin' to be very happy to see me. She adores you."

"She adores what I adore." He pointed out to him, looking down at his son in his arms. "C'mon then yah little tyke, you can't stay in your pyjamas all day." He lifted his baby as his climbed to his feet, playfully ruffling his hand through Nick's hair as he stepped around him. "You too, Nicky. There's some of your old clothes in the first set of boxes in the spare room... or you can borrow some of mine."

"Thanks." Nick climbed to his feet, following the two of them down the hall.

He leant against the doorframe to the toddler's room, watching as the little boy decided what he wanted to wear. His eyes were still adorably glazed with his tears, but a smile was slowly coming back to his features, after the nasty bump he took to his head. Nick guessed that if it had been serious, he wouldn't have perked up so quickly after just a short hug.

"How about... this one?" Greg pulled out a blue t-shirt from his drawer.

"No."

"The white one?" He showed him another one.

"No." Colt stepped around his father. He decided on a red t-shirt with one of his favourite cartoon characters on it, along with the cutest pair of little black jeans that Nick had ever seen. He handed them to his father, patiently waiting for him to dress him in them.

His younger father changed him out of the pyjama bottoms, pressing another kiss to his forehead as he checked for signs of a bump again. "Nope, no bump. It doesn't still hurt, does it?" He lifted the tot onto his lap, getting him dressed into a fresh diaper, before he reached for his jeans.

"Papa, is Daddy go babysit when got to go to the work?" He queried, looking towards his older father in the doorway.

"I'm not going to work today." His father reminded him, standing him up so he could pull his jeans up and over his diaper. "I've got the day off today. We were gonna go to the park and play on the swings and slide." He fastened his jeans into place, then lifted his t-shirt down over his head, guiding his little arms through the sleeves. "Maybe the three of us can spend the whole day together? Where do you think we should go, Daddy?" The younger man looked up at Nick in front of him; sensing things were going pretty well so far, as Nick couldn't take his eyes off the little life that they created.

"Um..." Nick tried to remember what they had discussed yesterday, remembering that Greg had said how much their son loved animals. "How about I take y'all to the zoo?"

"Yeah." The toddler excitedly cheered. "Papa, can we?" He bounced up and down in his father's arms, making it impossible for him to put his socks on for him. "Papa, pwease can we?"

"Sure we can." Greg lifted him onto his lap again, holding his foot still so he could put his sock on properly. He still wasn't quite sure if he trusted the man not to break his heart again, but at this point, he couldn't see past his love for him. "Okay ready, do you need to use the potty before we go?" He set the three year old on the floor in front of him.

"No." He shook his head, not looking very sure.

"Are you sure? You're not gonna get the chance to go until we get there." He reminded him, gently combing his fingers through his son's hair, so it didn't look like he had just rolled out of bed. "You better go just in case."

"Don't go. Don't need to." The toddler insisted, pulling Pancho out from under the covers by his ear. "Where Daddy?" He realised that the man in the doorway had disappeared.

"He's probably gone to get dressed. Find your shoes for me, kiddo." Greg sorted through his son's dirty clothes on the floor, taking them to the laundry hamper in the hall. "You find some stuff to wear?" He stepped into the spare room with Nick, watching the Texan going through one of the boxes he had in there. "Whatsup?"

"I just can't believe you kept it all." Nick lifted one of his old t-shirts out of the box, remembering that he had given it to Greg to wear the morning after their first night together. "If I was in your position, the last thing I woulda done was neatly fold all of my clothes and put them in boxes for safe keepin'."

"You weren't in my position, and I don't hold grudges." Greg knelt down beside him, looking into his eyes. "Especially against you, I love you." He reached past Nick into another box, handing him a pair of jeans to go with the t-shirt in his hands. "This is gonna sound pretty stupid, but I think I loved you even more after you left, especially after I found out that I was pregnant with your baby. I still wanted you to come back every minute of every day, but I never really hated you for leaving. Even though you weren't with me, I still had a part of you that would always be with me."

"It's not stupid." Nick leant forwards on his hands, delicately pressing his lips to the younger man's. "I've missed you every minute of every day too. How have you managed to hold all this together?"

Looking down at his hands in his lap, Greg whispered, "I'm barely hanging on. You may think that I have it all together, but I've been hanging by a thread since you left. Colt's been with my parents more then he has me." He looked over his shoulder to make sure the toddler hadn't followed him, before he leant forwards, wrapping his arms around the man's shoulders. "You're here to stay... aren't you?" He closed his eyes against the man's warm neck, inhaling his familiar scent. "For good. You really meant that, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Nick returned the embrace to the younger man. "If I could turn back the clock, I'd never of left you." He pulled Greg closer against his chest, never wanting to let him go. "I still can't believe that I even got you pregnant. We were together for four years." He pulled back slightly, looking into the man's eyes. "Could it have happened before?"

"I don't know." Greg had never even thought about that before. "We were still using condoms before I moved in with you, and the doctor said it was like a one in a million chance that I could even get pregnant."

"So... it wouldn't happen again?"

Greg smiled softly, realising what he was really asking. "You want another baby with me?"

The Texan gave him a shrug, as it wasn't really a possibility at the moment. "Maybe someday in the future. Before... before we lost Warrick, I thought we were goin' to spend the rest of our lives together. I thought that someday we'd adopt or somethin'... but this is even more amazin' than I ever imagined. I don't know why I was so scared to meet him. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I didn't even know he existed."

"You do now." His partner smiled at him, handing him the clothes from his hands. "C'mon, we better get going if we want to miss the crowds." He leant forwards, pressing a kiss to Nick's forehead before he climbed to his feet. "Colt?" Greg made his way through to the front room, finding his toddler playing with his toys again, rather than looking for his shoes. "C'mon bubba, let's go use that potty."

"No." Colt whined in protest, squirming as his father lifted him into his arms. "Papa, don't need go."

"You won't mind sitting on it for a minute then." His father carried him through the hall to the bathroom, sitting the reluctant child on the potty beside the sink. He smiled at his child, wishing he could say the familiar 'I told you so' that his mother always said to him as his son really did need to use the potty.

On his route back to Greg's bedroom to get dressed, Nick stopped in the doorway of the bathroom, smiling as he watched Greg with their son. His boyfriend wasn't the immature young man that he had fallen in love with anymore. He was a very grown up young man, but Nick still didn't think that he was ready to learn the truth about where he had been.

Once everyone was dressed and ready, Greg led the way to the car downstairs, while Nick carried their son. Colt didn't seem to mind being carried down the stairs, especially not by his father. And Nick was starting to get the hang of comfortably holding a baby against his side too, without fearing that he was going to drop him.

"Things are looking up." Greg suddenly shouted from the car across the parking lot. Nick wasn't quite sure what he was talking about at the time, but they were certainly starting to look up to him.

* * *

"Look at that, what's that?" The Texan pointed to another one of the animals, while he held his beautiful little boy against his side. He found that once he picked him up, he couldn't put him down again. "Do you know what it is?" He grinned widely as the adorable toddler tried to sound out the name of the animal, making him feel like a proud father, even though he couldn't quite get it. "It's an owl."

"Owl." Colt repeated the word, gazing in amazement at the beautiful bird. "He go eat da mouse." He pointed to the dead mouse that had been placed in the owl's cage. "When he go eat da mouse?"

"When it's his dinner time, he'll fly down and eat the mouse." Greg snapped a picture of the beautiful bird, before he turned it round to look at Nick and his child. "Say cheese. God I sound like my mother." He giggled, snapping his millionth picture of the two of them together.

"I down Daddy." The toddler demanded once the picture had been taken.

"You wonna get down, okay." Nick placed the toddler on the ground, keeping hold of his hand, so he didn't lose him in the crowd. He barely stretched past his knee, so he could easily lose him if he managed to wander off.

"What dat noise?" He curiously looked around for where the sound was coming from. "Papa, what dat noise?"

"That's the owls." Greg knelt down beside him, pointing his attention towards the owl that was cooing. "See. That's the sound that they make." His son copied the sound, making his fathers chuckle.

"Why he make dat noise?" Colt titled his head back, looking at Nick above him.

"That's just the noise that owls make." Nick explained to him, "All animals have their own unique noise that they make. It's how they talk to each other."

The child tugged his father in the direction of the second pen, complaining, "Can't see." He reached his arms up for his nearest father, getting lifted onto Nick's hip to take a look at the odd looking bird. "What dat?" He pointed his little finger at the unusual looking bird.

"That is a vulture." Nick expertly told him, reminding Greg of how much he loved birds. "They're scavenger birds..."

"Nicky, he's three." Greg stopped him there, before he told the innocent toddler that these birds ate dead things. "Let's go see the fish next." He excitedly announced, sounding like a kid himself as he grabbed for his child's stroller behind them, eagerly running on ahead.

Nick smiled at his son, following in the younger man's footsteps towards the aquarium section of the zoo. The first section was of small fish, but Colt wasn't really interested in the tiny ones. He immediately pointed their attention towards a sting ray, watching in wide eyes of amazement as the weird looking creature flew like a bird through the water.

"Daddy, look dat." Colt motioned towards it, wanting his father to move closer so he could get a closer look. "What dat?"

"It's a sting ray." Nick held him back before he had a chance to tap the glass. "You can't touch the glass, they don't like that." He looked around to make sure they hadn't lost Greg, smiling as he spotted the younger man staring open mouthed at a tank full of beautiful tropical fish. "Hey Greg, we lose yah?" He gently poked him in the side, giving him a smile as he tore his eyes away from the fish to look at him.

"Papa, don't tap glass. They don't like." Colt warned him, getting a smile out of Greg.

"I wasn't going to." He assured his son, pecking a kiss to his little cheek. "But thank you for telling me. Where to now?"

The three of them explored the rest of the aquarium, before they moved onto the larger animals. Towards the end of their tour around the zoo, Colt started to get sleepy, insisting that his father Greg carry him, leaving Nick with the stroller. The exhausted toddler eventually dozed off to sleep against the man's chest, but Greg still didn't want to put him down.

They made their way towards the picnic area, finding themselves a table in the shade. "He's out like a light." Nick brushed his fingertip across his baby's delicate forehead.

"If I remember correctly, just like you after a long day." Greg smiled at him, turning Nick's wrist so he could see the time on his watch. "I should call my Mom. Do you wonna come back to mine after?" He queried, adjusting the sleeping child in his arms. "We can finish catching up. You can go and get your stuff from your hotel room..."

"Isn't it a little fast for me to move in with you?" Nick stopped him there, wishing Greg would at least give him the cold shoulder for a while after what he did to him.

"I meant, if you're coming with us to my folks in California tomorrow, you're gonna need a change of clothes. You can't wear mine the whole time and Colt's won't exactly fit you." He smirked, kneeling down in front of the stroller. He held Colt against his chest with one hand, while he took Pancho out of the seat, so he could put his son in the teddy bear's place.

"How'd you end up namin' the teddy bear, Pancho?" Nick changed the subject, having overheard his son referring to the bear by the familiar name.

"I didn't." Greg softly bit his lower lip, glancing up at Nick stood in front of him as he confessed, "Your father did. He gave him to Colt as a Christmas present, just before his first birthday. Your Dad named him, Pancho. He told Colt about the nicknames you two gave each other. I don't think he really remembered much about the stories at that age, but the name Pancho stuck. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't." Nick gave him a smile. "I'm just surprised. I thought my Dad would be the last person to..." He looked at his sleeping baby, realising that even his father couldn't deny that this child was a part of him. "It's just... he's never been very acceptin' of me. He still thinks that I'm just goin' through some kind of phase."

"Your Mama did a lot of the convincing." Greg made sure his toddler was securely strapped in, before he climbed to his feet. "No matter what he thinks about us and our relationship, he loves you and he loves, Colt. When's he's with him, I see the part of him that you were always telling me about; that loving, caring father that adores his children more than anything part."

Nick smiled at the thought, relieved that his own father had accepted his child, rather than turning him away like he thought. "They've really known all along?"

Greg gave him a guilty look. "Yeah, I didn't want to tell them. I wanted you to know before them... but they kept trying to get in contact with me after you did your disappearing act. Your mother was in the waiting room the day of my c-section. While I was out, my Mom introduced her to her grandson. They've both been pretty much involved ever since."

Nick gave him a nod, turning his head away from Greg as he wiped his eyes.

Stepping around the stroller, the younger man slid his arms around Nick's waist, gently pulling him against his chest. "I didn't want them to know before you. I tried to find you. At one point, I was even going to hire a PI to find you. But I was worried that it would only confirm my worst fears that you were dead."

"I might as well have been." Nick spoke softly, feeling his tears running down his cheeks. He clutched the younger man tighter in his arms, practically cutting off his oxygen supply, but Greg still didn't pull away.

After a few minutes, the Texan released his grip on the man in front of him, returning air to his lungs.

"When I left you, you were sleepin'. You had a picture of all of us beside you, dried tears in your eyes... I could still see the streaks down your cheeks."

Greg pulled back slightly; giving the older man a curious look as he finally told him the real reason why he left.

"When we found out who really killed, Warrick, I shut you out. I remember tellin' you to butt out and leave me alone. It wasn't because I was blamin' you. I just wanted to get my hands on him and kill him. You were tryin' to save me from that, but I didn't listen. At the time, I thought you were just tryin' to stop me, but you were savin' me from myself." He wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands, unable to look Greg in the eye as he whispered, "I didn't want you near me when I was like that . . . I hit you."

The younger man took a seat on the bench behind him, remembering what that day was like. There were certain details about the day that he had put to the back of his mind to forget about, especially the part where Nick's fist collided with his face.

"I'd forgotten."

"I didn't." Nick's voice croaked. "I made you bleed. After everythin' that you had already been through, I go and do that to you... I couldn't be around you. I became exactly what I had been tryin' to protect you from. You were beaten to death within an inch of your life. What kind of boyfriend was I to make you relive it through me?"

"You hit me once." Greg defended him. "I wouldn't let you go and defend the memory of your friend. I deserved it."

"No you didn't." The man lifted his gaze, shaking his head at him. "You didn't deserve it at all. And it wasn't the first time, so don't go defendin' me. When we thought that Warrick had murdered that Lou Gedda guy, Catherine and I seemed to be the only two trying to defend him. You had practically thrown away the key already. I shoved you against the lockers." He recalled, remembering the locker shaped bruises he had seen on his partner's back. "I know you tried to hide the bruises from me. I saw them while you were sleepin'."

"You did leave because of me then?"

Nick shook his head. "I left because of me. You didn't deserve to be treated like that. That and I had never wanted to kill someone so much before. Not you." He quickly reassured him. "I didn't want to be the guy that's beats up the one he's supposed to love. I left because I loved you too much to see you with a guy like me. I could protect you from that. I took myself out of the equation. You deserve so much better than me."

"You didn't think that I deserved some kind of explanation?" Greg asked, in tears himself now. "I never blamed you for them. I should have been defending, Warrick, and I should have been supporting you. It's my own fault."

The older man shook his head again. "That's exactly what those battered wives used to say that we used to deal with everyday. Besides, you didn't need me around you. You've done perfectly fine on your own. You still don't need me around. You just think that you do because you don't have any confidence in yourself. I'm wrong for you, Greg. Your mother was right about that. Even I know that now. I was too selfish before... I loved you too much to do what was right."

"Shouldn't I get to decide what's right for me?" Greg rested his elbows on his knees, dropping his chin into his hands. "I'm so sick of everybody around me deciding what's right for me. I'm thirty five; I don't need to be protected like a child. You had no right to take that decision away from me like that. If I wanted you to go because of the way you were treating me, I should have been the one to decide that. Not you."

Nick nodded in understanding, realising how wrong he was now. "I'm sorry, Greg. But I stand by my reason. I left to protect you."

"Where have you been for the last... forty two months or so then?" He roughly calculated it off the top of his head. "Have you been hiding from me this whole time?" He watched Nick averting his gaze from him for the hundredth time, giving out a long drawn out sigh. "I can't do this anymore, Nick. I thought it would be great to have you back, but you're not the same. You won't even let me near you. And you won't tell me the truth. Is it really some big secret? Have you been in prison?"

Nick gave out a smirk, shaking his head at him. "No."

"Rehab," Greg thought up the next excuse. "For either drugs, drinking or... violence?"

"No, no and no." He took a seat beside Greg, looking at their son asleep in front of them. "I felt like I owed it to him."

"Who?"

"Warrick." Nick tilted his head to the side, looking into his partner's eyes. "He was born here in Las Vegas. He grew up here. He never even got the chance to leave. I was closer to him than my own brother. I knew him longer than I've known you."

"I know." Greg slid off the bench, taking hold of the stroller in front of them. "But that answers bogus and you know it. You expect me to believe that this whole time you've been exploring the states for Warrick's sake? Do you think I'm really that stupid? I can still tell when you're lying to me. You haven't changed that much."

"Greg, Greg wait. Just let me explain..."

(END OF CHAPTER 9)

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. Nick's secret will finally be revealed in the next chapter.**

**Happy Christmas!**

**~ Holly x**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi, guys**

**I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and got everything you wanted. Thought I'd issue a warning for this chapter before I uploaded. It might be very upsetting to a few people, so you might want to hold off reading it until the holidays are over.**

**Just warning you.**

**~ Holly x**

**Chapter Ten:**

Fluttering his eyes open after his long nap, Colt looked around the room he was in, recognising it as his Aunt Catherine's front room. He wasn't quite sure how he got here, but he could hear his father's voice in the distance, reassuring him that he was safe. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, pushing himself to a sitting position on the sofa where he had been sleeping. As he sat up, he knocked Pancho off the sofa, sending him rolling under his Aunt Catherine's coffee table.

Colt slid himself off the sofa after his teddy bear, before he hurried through to the kitchen. "Papa." He tugged at the man's leg, drawing his attention away from the strange smelling soup that the two of them were leant over.

"Hey, sleepy head." His father slid his hands beneath the boy's arms, lifting him onto his hip.

"Is Daddy go back?"

"Good Morning, Sunshine." His Aunt Catherine playfully ruffled her hand through his hair. "Did you sleep well? Your father's been telling me that you've just been to the zoo. Did you see all the animals?"

Colt nodded his little head, resting comfortably against his father's side. "Where Daddy?" He asked him again.

"Are you hungry?" Greg changed the subject this time, gently brushing his thumb beneath his child's eye. "You've still got one of your sandwiches left over from lunch."

"You can try some of this soup." Catherine suggested, letting him sniff it.

"You're not feeding that to my child." Greg teased her with a giggle, protectively holding his child against his chest. "We better get going anyway. Got some more packing to do, before I feed and bath this little one. We're heading to California tomorrow." He adjusted his son against his side, so he lift the diaper bag he had brought with him into his arms.

"Are you going to give Nick another chance?" Catherine queried, leading him towards the front door. "Greg, you've never had a brother or a sister." She argued, seeing the look on his face. "You don't know what it's like to lose somebody that close to you. Maybe he really was trying to feel closer to Warrick, by doing what he had always wanted."

Greg shook his head. "I saw it in his eyes. He's lying to me. There's something he's still not telling me, and I can't trust him until he does." He lifted his son higher in his arms, pressing a kiss to his little head. "You gonna say goodbye to your, Aunt Catherine?"

"Buh, bye." Colt gave her a wave.

"Bye bye, sweetheart." Catherine sighed, realising she was fighting a losing battle. She gently brushed her fingers through the toddler's hair, wishing the two of them would put the past behind them so they could concentrate on their family. "Take good care of your father for me. Have a good weekend in California with your Nana too." She pecked a kiss to the younger man's cheek, opening her front door for them. "I know he hurt you, Greg, but there's so much at stake here."

"I don't need to hear this." Greg stopped her there. "He left us, why should I have to be the one to make all the sacrifices for him? All I asked is for him to tell me the truth. He can't even do that."

"You have a son now, Greg. Do you want to end up like me?"

"Your husband didn't leave you, he died." The younger man reminded her, pulling open the door in front of him. "I know he hasn't been back that long, but he's not the same man that I knew. He's distant with me. He's lying to me constantly. I can't even tell when he is telling me the truth anymore. It's like he's changed completely."

"Greg..."

"On top of all of that, he's barely eaten anything." He continued, stopping her from trying to defend him. "He's thin, pale and he doesn't look like himself. I know there's something he's not telling me, but I can't put my finger on what. I wish things weren't so complicated. I just want him back without all the... crap." He mouthed the last word, adjusting the toddler against his side. "Why isn't anything ever simple?"

"That's life." Catherine shrugged, wishing she could make things better for him. "Nick's worth the chance, Greg, and you know it. You still love him. That's why you can't shut him out completely."

"I wish I could, maybe then it'd be easier."

"Daddy." Colt suddenly motioned out the door, pointing to the man in question stood waiting for them outside.

His father immediately turned his attention in the same direction, seeing Nick stood outside by his car. He had left him over an hour ago at the zoo, practically abandoning him without a car in the middle of nowhere. He didn't know how Nick managed to find him here, but he had to admit that he was glad to see him again.

"Papa, down." Colt demanded, fidgeting in his father's arms.

"Okay." Greg let his squirmy toddler down, realising he really couldn't shut him out now, as the two of them had already bonded.

"Daddy."

Hurrying down Catherine's driveway on his little legs, Colt ran straight into the open arms of his father, giggling softly as the man lifted him into his embrace. His father immediately hugged him tightly against his chest, looking as though he was seeing his child for the first time again.

Greg was surprised over how quickly they had bonded, but he was relieved too. He didn't want them to have an awkward father, son relationship. He wanted them to be as close as he had been with his son over the past three years.

"Maybe if we didn't make things so complicated for ourselves. Bye." He waved to Catherine, following in his son's excited little footsteps towards, Nick. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking at the Texan in front of him. "Hi."

"Hey." The older man responded, gently patting his son's little back, before he handed him over to Greg. He made sure that he had a hold of him, before he tried to explain, "Listen Greg, I know I'm beginnin' to sound like a broken record at this point, but I'm really, really sorry. And I really need to talk to you. You never gave me a chance to properly explain. Can I come back with you?"

Greg gave him a nod, hoping it was going to be the truth this time. "Do you wonna drive?" He handed him the keys to his car.

"Yeah, sure. If you're sure." Nick caught the keys as Greg dropped them into his hand, taking that as a yes. He pulled open the back door of the car for him, taking the diaper bag off his hands, so the younger man had his hands free to strap their son into his chair. He helped Greg to his feet once he was done, feeling a spark of electricity running through his body as their hands touched.

"C'mon then, let's go." The younger man made his way round the car, feeling a little tired after their long day. He felt a little relieved that he didn't have to drive them back home after a long day, realising how much he had been missing out on the support of a partner while he was bringing up a child on his own.

He hadn't been able to really lean on anyone for help in a long time.

After a short drive back, Nick immediately found a parking spot in the basement of Greg's apartment. He opened the passenger side door for his partner, before he helped him with the stroller from the boot. Greg lifted his son from the car, making his way round the back, where Nick was still struggling to even open the stroller from its folded position.

"Put your foot on that bit there." Greg helped him out, struggling not laugh at him. "Push it down until it clicks."

Nick gently pushed it down with his foot, hearing the click of the stroller snapping into place. "Never done that before." He smiled at Greg, suddenly feeling proud of himself as he lifted his son from Greg's arms. He set his son down in the stroller seat, carefully buckling him in. As he climbed to his feet, the younger man immediately turned away from him, stopping himself from looking him directly in the eye. "Greg, can we... can we just try again? Even if there's no guarantee that it's goin' to work out or anythin', can we just try?"

"What do you mean if there's no guarantee it's going to work out?" He turned to look at Nick, giving him a curious look. "Do you think that it won't work out?"

"I want it to." Nick rested against the handles of the stroller, looking into his partner's eyes. "I want to be with my family. You and Colt, that's all that matters to me now." He looked down at his son, smiling as the little boy had titled his head back to look up at him. "I can be there for both of you now, Greg. If you'll let me. I know it won't be the fantasy that you've always imagined . . . but we can try."

Greg looked around at the other cars around them, wishing he knew what to say.

"Greg." Nick tried to get him to look at him again. "Look at me, G. What have you got to lose by lettin' me in? I'll tell you everythin' you wonna know, I swear. I know it's my fault that things are like this, but I wonna make it up to you. C'mon baby, I don't want to lose you." He gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.

"You can come up." Greg turned away from him, heading towards the elevator. "That's as far as it goes though."

The Texan gave him a smile, following in his footsteps with his son in the stroller. "I was thinkin', since I'm back now, maybe we could start lookin' for a better place." He suggested, sensing that the younger man wasn't too keen on the idea from the look on his face. "The apartment isn't exactly safe, Greg."

"Where is?" He stepped into the elevator, holding the doors open for Nick and the stroller. "The apartment suits us fine. Although it's small, it's practical and our home." He pointed out to him, pushing the button to his floor. He leant back against the wall as they started moving, keeping an eye on Nick as he focused his attention on the toddler in front of him. "Are you really sticking around this time?"

Nick glanced up at him, giving him a nod. "I am. I'm here to stay."

"You think that saying that is a comfort to me, but it's not." Greg informed him, adjusting himself against the wall behind him. "It just makes me more scared that you're setting me up to hurt me again."

"I'm not."

"I don't know that, Nick." He pushed himself to his feet as they reached their floor, helping Nick to get the stroller out of the elevator. "Whaddya fancy for dinner?" He turned his attention towards the alert little boy between them, grabbing the keys from Nick's hands so he could unlock the door to his apartment.

"Daddy go?" Colt tilted his head back against the stroller, looking up at Nick behind him.

"No, Daddy isn't going." Greg answered for him, ushering them inside once he got the door open. "Let's change that diaper of yours, Colt." He knelt down in front of the stroller to un-strap him, carrying the tot with him to the bathroom down the hall.

Nick managed to fold away the stroller on his own, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa for his partner to return. He wasn't sure how to tell him the complete truth without hurting; he just knew that he had to tell him before he lost him completely. He may have been a very forgiving person when they were dating three years ago, but a lot had changed since then.

"Go get some toys." Greg returned from the bathroom, setting his toddler in the hallway. He made his way to the kitchen to search the fridge for something to eat. "Nicky, you want anything?"

"No." Nick watched his son dragging a little cart full of toys into the front room. "I'm not hungry." He climbed over the toddler, making his way into the kitchen with Greg. "Hey, G. Can I talk to you now? I get that you're pissed at me, but you want this to work as much as I do, I can tell. So just hear me out, what have you got to lose?"

"Tell me the truth." Greg leant back against the kitchen counter behind him to face the man in front of him. "Stop lying to me. All I want you to do is tell me the truth. Why can't you do that?"

Nick looked over his shoulder at their son, realising he was preoccupied with his soft toys he had just tipped out on the floor.

"Nick." Greg demanded an answer from him. "Just tell me the truth. Has it got something to do with the reason why you won't even let me near you?"

"Partly." He nodded slightly, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets. "I had somethin' done."

"What, you got a full BSC wax or something?" The younger man voiced the first thing that came to his mind.

"No." Nick smiled, asking, "What does that even mean?"

"Balls, scrotum..."

"I got it." He stopped him there, wishing it were that simple. Running his fingers through his hair, Nick whispered, "I'm sick. I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want it to be the reason that you took me back. I didn't want it to be out of pity or duty. I wanted it to be on your own terms."

"Sick?" Greg repeated the one and only word he had heard during his whole confession.

Nick nodded softly, noticing that the younger man's eyes were starting to glaze over. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. You're just startin' to get your life together."

"How?" The younger man gave him a curious look. "How are you sick? Just tell me the truth." He demanded, sensing he was about to lie to him again.

"Cancer."

Greg suddenly felt as though his world was about to spin out of control. He leant back against the counter to stabilise himself, suddenly wishing that he had never asked. The last time he had that word, he lost his grandparents within a few weeks of each other. This couldn't happen to Nick, he had only just got him back.

"What um..." He anxiously adjusted himself against the counter, trying not to look Nick in the eye as he was about to burst into tears. "What kind?"

Nick leant against the opposite counter from him, deciding to explain the full story to him, "A couple of months after I left you, I started havin'... a few problems. I thought it was an STD at first, more hopin' it was, but they did all these tests to confirm it. First time, I had a borderline result, whatever that means. So I had to go back in another three months for another test. Second test confirmed that I had prostate cancer."

Greg slid down the counter behind him, sitting himself on the kitchen floor with tears in his eyes.

"Hey, I'm okay, Greg." He knelt down in front of the younger man, trying to assure him, "They had this scale thing of how advanced it was. Eight to ten bein' aggressive, seven moderately aggressive... but they said that my tumour was around about a six, termed non aggressive. Because of my young age for this type of cancer, they decided to do a prostatectomy to completely remove it, rather than just monitorin' it. I'm fine now."

His reassurance didn't work though. The tears in Greg's eyes continued to flow, turning him into a blubbering mess.

Nick slid himself forwards, wrapping his arms tightly around the younger man. "Hey, I'm not goin' anywhere. You know me better than anybody." He whispered against his ear, feeling his tears soaking into the shoulder of his t-shirt. "I thought you wanted me to tell you the truth."

Greg continued to cry silently, clutching Nick tighter in his arms. The only word he really heard was cancer, making him realise what he could have lost. And still could lose. He held him for at least thirty minutes, before he finally attempted to dry his eyes. He found himself completely embraced in Nick's arms, with the older man's chin resting against his head.

"I can't believe this is happening." He whispered, reclosing his eyes against the older man's chest. "Why would you want to go through that alone? Why didn't you come back? You should have been with me."

Nick brushed his thumb across his partner's cheek, looking into his puffy red eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you again. That's why I didn't tell you."

"Shut up, you idiot." Greg suddenly jabbed him in the ribs, still mad at him. "This is exactly something that you _should_ tell me. Why did you stay away so long? Did you really want to go through that alone? You should have come back to me the second you found out."

"You had a baby then." Nick reminded him. "You didn't need me to deal with too."

"That can't be a reason, you didn't even know about him." Giving out a groan, Greg pushed Nick away from him, even more furious with him. "I'm so sick of you, Nick. You're the most annoying man I've ever met. You tell me what you _think_ I want to hear. You leave me because you _think_ it's what's best for me. Then you stay away and deal with cancer on your own, because you didn't _think_ that I needed the hassle. Sometimes I seriously hate you." He scrambled to his feet, making his way through to the front room to check on his toddler.

The Texan remained against the counter on the floor, taking in everything the younger man said to him. He knew that it was his fault, but he didn't expect the man to take the news like that. He didn't regret telling him though; he just wished that he had the sense to tell Greg that he was still sick and was still going through treatment.

When he was diagnosed with cancer the second time around, he decided to return to the only man he ever loved, just in case he wasn't so lucky this time. He knew that these types of cancer ran in his family, but he never thought that lightning would strike twice for him in such a short space of time.

(END OF CHAPTER TEN)

**I wanted to hold off uploading this one, especially around Christmas time. Hope you don't hate me for it :D**

**~ Holly**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven:**

After getting lifted out of the bath tub by his father, Colt stood perfectly still on the bath mat, giving the man in front of him a curious look as he carefully dried him with the warm fluffy towel he had in his hands. "Papa, why sad?" He had noticed that his father was a lot quieter than usual, especially around him. "Daddy make you sad?" He wondered, as they hadn't even looked at each other since they talked in the kitchen.

"No." Greg shook his head, gently running the towel through his son's hair. "Daddy didn't make me sad." He wrapped his child in the towel, lifting him from the floor into his arms. "Let's get you into bed. You've got a long day tomorrow." He carried him across the hall to the toddler's room, sitting him down on the edge of the bed.

Pulling his arm out of the fluffy towel he was wrapped in, Colt nervously sucked two of his fingers in his mouth, watching his father across the room. The man was searching through the chest of drawers, pulling out a clean pair of pyjamas along with a diaper for his son.

"Where Daddy?"

"In the kitchen." Greg crawled across the floor on his knees, lifting the child off the bed to dress him. "Do you think Nana's missed us since she last saw us on your birthday?" He asked him, getting a slight nod out of the toddler.

"Papa, why Daddy go?"

"He hasn't gone." Greg gave him another quick dry with the towel, before he lifted him into his diaper. "Daddy is in the kitchen. You saw him at the zoo today and he was still here at dinner. He's not going anywhere."

"Daddy go 'gain while I sleeping?" Colt asked the man, tilting his head to the side as he waited for a response.

Greg shook his head, lifting his toddler into his arms. "No, Daddy won't go again while you're sleeping. He'll be here when you wake up in the morning." He made him a promise he wasn't sure that he could keep. "C'mon bubba, let's get you into your pyjamas." He set him down again, helping him into his pyjama bottoms and top. He pulled back the covers once he was dressed, helping his son into his bed. "Goodnight, Colt. I love you."

"Nooo Papa, I want story." He kicked back the covers on top of him, stopping his father from leaving him alone.

"How could I forget the story?" Greg playfully slapped himself on the head, before he took a seat on the edge of his child's bed. "Where'd we get to on our last story?" He tried to remember, while he tucked his child back into his bed. "Oh yeah, the big bad wolf had trapped the little rabbit underground."

"He get out?" Colt squirmed beneath his covers, getting comfortable so he was ready to listen to the story.

"Of course he'll get out. The little rabbit is much smarter than the big bad wolf. What the wolf didn't know was that the rabbit could dig himself out. See, rabbits are natural diggers. They dig burrows all the time to sleep in, so the little rabbit started digging..."

"Daddy." The toddler suddenly looked towards the door, spotting him stood in the gap. "Daddy hear story too?" He reached his little hands out for the man, tempting Nick to step inside.

"Is it okay?" Nick gave his partner a curious look. He hadn't actually spoken to him since he told him about his cancer, so he wasn't quite sure if he was welcome.

Looking at his son in front of him, Greg reluctantly nodded, realising he would come off as the bad guy if he refused. His son was already attached to Nick, much quicker than he had anticipated.

After the nod of approval, Nick took a seat beside his son's bed, holding the little boy's hand in his own as Greg continued the story. The toddler eventually dozed off to sleep, just as the little rabbit in the story made it home safe to his father.

"Colt." Greg whispered softly, just to make sure that he was really asleep. He pressed a kiss to his little forehead, carefully tucking the covers up to his chest, so he wouldn't get cold during the night. He ignored any direct eye contact with Nick in the process, returning to the kitchen so he could finish washing up after they had finished their dinner.

"Greg." The older man followed him in. "You can't ignore me forever. You wanted to know."

"Don't pass the blame to me." Greg snapped at him. "This is all your fault. You could have died from this, and I would have never known. Colt never would have got to meet his father and I would have always thought that you left because of me."

"Can you just give me a minute to let me explain?"

"Nope. I'm done talking to you." Greg bluntly informed him, loading the rest of the plates and things into the dishwasher. He stepped around Nick as if he was a piece of furniture, making his way towards his room down the hall.

Not taking no for an answer, Nick followed in his footsteps, finding the younger man crashed out across the middle of his bed on his stomach.

"Greg, please just hear me out." He took a seat beside him. "I didn't do this to hurt you. That's the last thing I wanted to do. We always knew that this could happen. My father had prostate cancer, along with my grandfather and my brother had testicular cancer. The men get cancer in my family more than the women, which was why my mother was so glad to have so many girls."

"It's not the same when it really happens." Greg answered him, his voice muffling against the bed covers beneath him. "I don't want to lose you."

"Don't shut me out then." He lay himself down beside the younger man, gently brushing his fingers through his partner's hair. "I know this isn't your fault, but avoidin' me isn't the way to handle it. I came back to be with you. I realised how wrong I was. I still shoulda left, but I should have taken you with me."

Greg turned his head to the side, looking at Nick beside him. "You're the one who's always saying that life is this precious gift from God..."

"My parents drilled that one into me." Nick pointed out to him.

"Why didn't you come back when you found out that you had cancer? You should have been with people who love you, not with strangers poking you all day." He rolled over onto his side, finally allowing himself to look into the older man's eyes. "When I knew about your family's medical history, it was just a bunch of statistics to me. I never thought it would really happen, especially not to you. You're the strongest man I know. Why didn't you come back?"

"I beat it, Greg."

"That's not the point." He turned his head to the side, not letting Nick see his tears. "You could have died and I would never of known. You're supposed to be with people you love when you're sick like that. You're not meant to go through it alone. Why would you put yourself through that?"

"Greg, I can't change how I handled it." Nick moved himself closer to his partner, gently draping his arm around him. "I wish I could, but I can't. I know you're scared to lose me, but you don't need to be, baby. I'm not goin' anywhere."

"You can't know that. And stop calling me, baby. You always used to call me that when you were buttering me up for something."

"I'm sorry . . . but there was nothin' to it, Greg. You don't need to worry." He rested against his elbow beside the younger man's head, looking into his watery eyes. "You've got nothin' to be scared of. I'm not gonna die. I didn't even feel like I had anythin' until I had the prostatectomy, then there was the painful recovery process. I was in absolute agony for weeks."

"The perfect time to call me. You must have known on some level that all would have been forgiven the second you called me." Weaving their fingers tightly together over his stomach, Greg asked, "Do you really think that little of me? You were alone. You needed me. Why the hell didn't you call me?"

Nick gently squeezed his partner's hand in his own, giving him a slight smile. "Greg, I can't change what I did."

"I know." He sighed softly, closing his eyes as he felt the older man's breath gently ruffling through his hair. "But that only accounts for one year. Even with treatment and recovery time, you wouldn't have stayed away for three years for all of this." The CSI pointed out to him, slowly opening his eyes again. "Why didn't you come back to me sooner?"

"Because I wasn't about to insert myself back into your life after that." He brushed his thumb across his partner's cheek, feeling his guilt coming back. "I know what you're goin' to say, but I didn't want to hurt you like that again. You really didn't need me around then, you were dealin' with your own stuff."

"Nick..."

"I have more to tell you." The Texan cut him off, stopping him from saying anything else. "When I came back, I held off tellin' you, because you had all this goin' for you. I came back now to be with you, but I had no idea that we had a child. I couldn't just blurt it out the second I saw you with our son. It didn't seem right."

"What?" Greg wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "What else do you have to tell me?"

Nick sucked in a sharp breath, explaining, "I've been goin' back for regular checkups to make sure that the cancer hasn't spread or come back. I've been cancer free for nearly three years. My last appointment was about two months ago."

"Has it come back?" He wiped his watery eyes again, feeling goose bumps shivering their way down his spine. "Is it bad?"

The man shook his head slightly, still coming to terms with the latest news himself. "No... no it's somethin' else."

"What?" He blubbered, struggling to see through his watery eyes. "What? Tell me. C'mon Nick, you're killing me here. What is it?"

Collapsing back against the bed beside Greg, Nick covered his arm over his eyes, whispering, "Testicular cancer."

"No." Greg struggled to sit up beside him, forcing the man to look at him. "You have been getting treated for it, haven't you? Two months ago, it could have..."

"Yes, I have. I'm on my third round of chemo." The man stopped him there, not wanting him to worry. "I'm on a six week course of the stuff. I realised how much I needed you when I was sittin' there for a second time, hooked up to all these machines. I wasn't scared before. I watched my father go through prostate cancer... he acted as though it didn't even affect him."

"So you knew what to expect?"

"I thought I did... before I woke up after the surgery. They gave me loads of pain relief, but it didn't stop me from feelin' everythin'." He tilted his head back against the pillow beneath his head, looking into the man's adorable eyes. "I thought that I'd either get one or the other when I grew up . . . but I was never expectin' to get both. No one in my family has ever had both before. I thought it was my punishment for what I did to you."

"You have nothing to be punished for. Don't you dare think like that." He held Nick's hands tightly in his own, looking back into the man's deep soulful eyes. "So, you had it removed and you've started treatment. What happens next?"

"C'mon Greg, you must know what happens next." He complained, not wanting to go into detail.

"No, I tend not to educate myself in things that kill people I love." He snapped at him, still upset with him. He repositioned himself against the man's side, resting their heads together. "Sorry, but I hate the C word. I don't want you to have it. It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, G."

Ignoring Nick's negative attitude, he asked, "Weren't you scared?"

"Terrified." He admitted to him, moving his hand to the younger man's side. "Waitin' for my test results was the worst part. The operations and the chemo, it doesn't even come close to the waitin' around. I kept hopin' and prayin' that all my tests were goin' to be negative. And they were, until two months ago. My doctor told me that this one would be a breeze compared to my last. Except for this." He lightly gripped a handful of his own hair, slowly opening his palm to Greg to show him the clumps of hair. "Started happenin' a few days ago. I'm afraid to have a shower in case I lose it all."

"You've shaved your head before."

"That's different." Nick pointed out to him. "I had the choice then. It's just fallin' out on its own now. On top of that, I've got just about every side effect that they warn you about. I guess you've noticed the loss of appetite." He gave him a slight smile. "I never wanted you to be angry with me, G. When I saw you with a baby out in the hall, I realised that you couldn't be there for me the way I wanted you. You're responsible for a little life of your own now; I didn't want you to be there for me out of duty or pity. It would have been selfish of me to tell you right there and then."

"No it wouldn't, and I would have been there for you anyway and you know it. I love you." Greg pressed his lips to the man's forehead, then to his lips. "You're the only man I've ever loved. I'm not bitter about you leaving me. It's just the lies you tell me that I don't like. You've never lied to me before. It feels like you're betraying me when you do. You've never made me feel like I'm an outsider to your life before. I don't like it."

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly, clutching the man's hand tightly in his own. "What I was talkin' about before, wantin' to leave Las Vegas for Warrick... you never let me finish. Warrick had this bucket list of things to do before he died. He started it after that CSI Holly Gribbs died on his watch. It made him realise that it could happen to any of us at any moment. He didn't really follow through with anythin' on his list though, not until after I was trapped in a Plexiglas box underground."

"You mean his overnight wedding to Tina was part of a bucket list?"

Nick gave him a nod. "He put things off for so long, then he never got the chance to do go through with any of it. Marryin' Tina didn't exactly work out for the best for him either. They were gettin' a divorce before they celebrated their first year."

Adjusting himself against Nick's warm body, Greg curiously asked him, "What's on your bucket list?"

"It wasn't to get cancer." He assured him, brushing his thumb across the younger man's fingers in his hand. "I wanted to see more of the world. I made it as far as the inside of a hospital though. When I wasn't in hospital, I was in hotel rooms for recovery. It's hard to believe it's been three years. It seems to have just flown by for me. Well, not really. It felt like years went by while I was recoverin' from the surgery. I've always wanted to do extreme sports." He changed the subject, realising he had avoided the original question.

"What about that paragliding you did? That was extreme sports."

"Over too fast, kinda like the first time I had sex." Nick smiled at him. "It doesn't really count because I didn't know I was goin' to die then. I knew I'd die eventually, but somethin' like this really puts things into perspective. It doesn't change anythin' though... the whole time... I didn't feel like I'd really done anythin', because I felt empty the whole time. I don't know why I stayed away for so long, Greg. The longer I stayed away, the harder it was to come back here. I felt too ashamed to face you. I thought that you wouldn't want me after this."

Greg wiped away a tear running down his cheek, pressing a kiss to Nick's cheek this time. "Of course I want you. I've missed you so much, Nicky. All I've ever wanted is to have you back." He hugged the man tightly against his side, worrying about what the future would hold for the man he adored.

"You understand why I didn't tell you, don't you? I didn't tell you, because I didn't want to be dependent on you." He explained to him, smoothing out a crease in his partner's t-shirt. "Especially now that you've got Colt to look after. You don't need me added to that."

"You shouldn't get to decide that." He rested his forehead against Nick's, moving closer so he could feel the man's heart beating as though it was in his own chest. "From now on, I don't want you deciding what I do and don't need to know. You tell me everything now. You have to promise me. The second you know anything, you have to tell me. Promise me, Nick."

"I promise." He nodded, closing his eyes as Greg kissed his forehead. "I really should have stayed with you, Greg. Havin' a child of my own was right at the top of my bucket list, along with marryin' the only person I've ever fallen in love with."

"Easy there, cowboy. You're out of the dog house, but you're not quite there yet."

"I wasn't even suggestin'... I can't anyway."

"It's not permanent." Greg protectively embraced the man beside him, holding him close against his chest. "I'm here for you now, Nicky. You don't have to go through any of this alone anymore. You'll get through this, I know you will. You have to; you've got a little boy depending on you."

Although he still wasn't sure why Nick had stayed away so long, Greg couldn't deny the fact that Nick really needed him now. There was no way he would be able to turn him away now. If he did, he'd forever be wondering if it would be the last time he would ever see him.

And he'd never forgive himself for that.

(END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN)

**Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think.**

**~ Holly**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve:**

"I like that one." Greg tapped the photo on the table, giving his mother a smile as her hair was completely windswept in the photo, covering half of her face. "This is taking forever. If you don't like any pictures of yourself, why do you want blown up pictures of yourself all over your birthday party anyway?" He queried, setting down the stack of photos from his hands, while he checked on his baby across the room.

"It was your father's idea." His mother informed him, smiling as she watched her son with his own son. "Your father thinks since it's a big one, we should do a big celebration like your twenty first... and your eighteenth... and your tenth." She giggled remembering all the big celebrations they had for their son. "I don't feel old enough for a big celebration though. I've got a three tier chocolate cake being delivered later. I could have just of easily had a tub of ice cream. I haven't had any kind of tiered cake since my wedding to your father. And that was only two tiers."

"A three tier chocolate cake?" Greg stopped her there, looking at her surprised. "There goes your thirty years of dieting."

"Oi, bloody cheek." She stopped him there. "It hasn't been thirty years of dieting. And I'm not going to eat it all. Your father was pushing for a five tier cake. One layer for each decade I've been alive, but thankfully the caterers he's hired aren't that experienced."

"I thought you said you didn't want to make a fuss."

"I don't. But your father has already done all the planning. I told him it would only make me feel more depressed having a big celebration. I still can't believe we just celebrated my first grandchild's third birthday. It seems like just yesterday he was born. Sometimes it feels as though you were only born yesterday."

Greg smiled over his shoulder at the woman, returning to the table with her after he checked on his own baby. "I never understood before why you were so protective of me or eager to have so many kids. Now that I have Colt though, it's like I have this whole new insight into your life."

His mother giggled, handing him another stack of photos to look through. "That's just called growing up and becoming a parent, sweetheart. It was the same for me once I flew the nest. I had a whole new outlook on what my mother had to go through once I had you. I don't regret a moment of it though." She smiled at him, gently tapping the back of his hand. "Now try to find a picture where I don't have so many wrinkles. Or folds... or grey hairs."

"Shoulda handed me the stack from the seventies then." He teased her, ducking out the way as she went to slap him round the head. "I'm kidding. You don't look a day over thirty, thirty five tops. You're the most beautiful mother I've ever had."

"I'm your only mother." She laughed, smirking, "But thank you for the compliment, sweetheart. Truth be told, I've played the thirty card for too long now. I'm fifty five." She fiddled with the bracelets around her wrist, giving her son a smile as she spotted a picture of her pregnant with him. "Twenty one there. Couldn't believe it when I found out I was pregnant. Your father and I had only been married a year."

"You were young."

"Did you think I was old my whole life?" She playfully poked her son in the side. "Your generation are just a little slow on planning out your lives. You don't realise how little time you have. Your father and I spent seven years trying for another baby after we had you. We should have just been enjoying our lives with you."

"It didn't affect me if that's what you're worried about." He assured her.

"You'd think with your career that you'd treasure all the time that you had." She continued her trail of thought. "You didn't lose your virginity until you were twenty two and you waited until you were in your thirties to have a baby. You'll probably be double my age before you finally settle down."

"It was never my intention to have a baby in the first place." Greg reminded her. "Not that I regret it. I didn't even know that I could get pregnant until my thirties." He flipped through a few of the photos, anxiously biting his lower lip as he wanted to tell her that he was seeing Nick again. But he wasn't sure how she'd take it. "You and Dad were the same age when you got married, weren't you?"

"Uh huh, you should know that. Your father's only eight months older than me."

"Do you think I was stupid for falling in love with a man four years older than me?" He suddenly asked her, getting her full attention. "I know the age gap wasn't that big between us, but he was always so much more mature than me. He grew up in a different world from me. You warned me about that when I first told you about him. You said it would end in tears."

"I never gave you the 'I told you so' speech though." His mother stopped him there, resting against her elbow on the table as she gave her son a curious look. "Why'd you suddenly bring him up? You haven't talked about him in nearly three years."

"I have... I was just thinking about him." He shrugged, looking at a picture he had found of his mother and father on the day that he was born. "It feels like a lifetime ago that I met him. Do you think it was the way we got together that set us up to fail?"

"What because he was dating another woman at the time?" His mother shook her head. "No offence, sweetheart, but it was always doomed to fail. Right from the beginning. When you first told me about him, you said he was practically the equivalent of the office slut. The next thing I know, you're telling me that you have a crush on him, but he wouldn't give you the time of day."

"I never said he was the office slut." Greg defended the man he loved. "I just said that he dated a lot of loose women. Catherine's more like the office slut. Nick didn't have a lot of one night stands; he just dated a lot of women."

"And he was still dating a lot of women when you told him that you liked him."

"Was not. He was dating one woman." Greg firmly told her. "A woman called Chrissie. He didn't dump her right there on the spot, because he's a gentleman."

"Gentleman." The woman scoffed the word. "I wouldn't call him a gentleman. Look at what he did to you. A real man doesn't walk out on the one he loves, certainly not when said person is carrying their unborn child."

"He didn't know. And he came back." Greg spoke softly, waiting for the disappointed look on her face. "Mom, I'm seeing him again."

"Oh, Greg." She sighed, wondering why he would put himself through all of that again. "After what he did to you, why would you do that? He's a selfish, thoughtless... idiot. And I'm being polite." She struggled to think of the right words, feeling as though her blood was boiling with anger at the situation. "He doesn't deserve you. He certainly doesn't deserve to see his son. I suppose that you told him about Colt too? If he even thinks that he has any rights over that child..."

"Mom, he came back." He cut her off, keeping his voice down as his baby was still sleeping. "I love him, Mom. I never stopped loving him, not really. How could I stop when I had his baby with me the whole time? He didn't know about Colt when he left. He left for his own reasons, not because of me. Doesn't everybody deserve a second chance?"

"Not when they're the prick that broke my son's heart." She shook her head, returning her attention to the pictures in front of her. "Don't expect me to accept this, because I'm not going to. He's not welcome here." She warned him, angrily flipping through the photos.

"No surprise there really, you never liked him." Greg dropped the photos from his hands, climbing to his feet from the table. "Come to think of it, you've never liked anything that's made me happy. You didn't want me to go away to college. You didn't like my career choice. You don't like the city I chose to live in. You hated the fact I was gay."

"That's not fair. I never said that." Jean defended herself. "Don't you dare bad mouth me like that. It was you who cut me out of your life after you came out to us. I tried everything I could to get through to you, but you kept pushing me away."

"Why do you think that is? You have this perfect ideal image of what you want me to be like, and when I don't do everything exactly your way, you push me away." He told her the harsh truth. "You didn't even think that I was capable to take care of my own son, Mom. When are you ever going to like anything that makes me happy?" He made his way over to the travel cot, sliding his hands beneath his child's arms to take him with him as he stormed out of the house.

"That's not true!" She called after him, but he had already gone.

* * *

Hearing a knock at the door, Nick climbed to his feet from the sofa, making his way towards it. He felt a little odd opening the door as it wasn't his place, but he couldn't just leave whoever it was out in the hall. "Catherine." He stepped aside as she pushed her way in, wondering what she was even doing here. "Come in why don't you. Can I get you somethin'?" He motioned towards the kitchen.

"No, I'm not staying." She shook her head, folding her arms across her chest as she looked round at the man. "What are you doing here, Nicky? Do you have any idea what you've put Greg through over the past few years? Now you just swan in as if it was nothing."

"I didn't just swan in." He stopped her there. "I was never expectin' him to take me back. I didn't even want him to, not after what I did. I just thought that I owed him some kind of explanation."

"Damn right you do. So why are you sticking around? You could have just told him then got a hotel." The woman motioned to where they were. "Greg's completely hopeless when it comes to you. This isn't fair on him or your son. You broke his heart. You broke him. He hasn't been the same since you just up and left him. And I don't want to see him get hurt again."

"I know." He leant against the counter behind him. "Lookin' at it from the outside, I know I'm not right for him, but I love him. I guess I'm too selfish to leave him now, especially when he has my child with him. I won't hurt him again." He looked up at her. "That's the last thing I want to do. I love him, more than you'll ever know. I came back for him. Then I found out that we have a child together, which only makes me love him even more. I'll never leave him again. He's my world, I'm lost without him."

"You're only thinking of yourself again though, Nicky." She pointed out to him. "Ever since you left, Greg's only been thinking about the child that you left behind. Now that you're back, your only thinking about what you want."

"I'm not, trust me." He motioned her attention towards the front room where he had been sat. "I'm only thinkin' of them. I'm lookin' for a place to move them and a job, so I can support them. I'm only thinkin' of them now. They're my world."

Catherine sighed softly as she saw the evidence laid out in front of her. "I just don't want to see him get hurt again."

"I know, and I appreciate you tryin' to protect him, but I'm here to do that now." He pointed out to her, not wanting to tell her the real reason. He didn't need pity from her. "I love him more than I've ever loved anythin' my whole life. Do you think that I'd really abandon him when he has my child with him? I'm not like that. You should know that, I haven't changed that much."

"I hope so Nicky, for their sake." She folded her arms across her chest, looking at what he had laid out on the table. "So, what kind of place are you looking for?"

"A house." Taking a seat on the sofa, Nick showed her what he had been looking at. He leant back against the sofa cushions as she took over, feeling relieved to have a fresh pair of eyes. He had only been looking at the stuff for the past three hours, but already he felt exhausted. "I'm gonna do right by him, Cath."

"Out of love or guilt?"

* * *

"What's that?" Greg knelt down beside his child, placing his hand on the child's chest as he pointed at the animals in front of him. After his feud with his mother, he decided to take his son to their favourite place in California, where Greg had been going since he was a child himself. "Do you know what that is?" The toddler shook his head, too nervous to approach the strange looking thing. "It's a goat." Greg pressed a kiss to the child's cheek, gently reaching his hand out to touch it. "See, he's a friendly goat."

"He bite." Colt pointed to the goat's teeth as he chewed the food in his mouth.

"No, he won't bite you." Greg assured him, smiling as the child kept himself leant back in his father's protective embrace. "He's a friendly goat. He won't bite you." He leant closer so the toddler could get closer, but his little boy just cowered back into his embrace. "Aww, baby. He's not going to hurt you." He lifted him into his arms, pressing another kiss to his little cheek. "He's just a goat."

"Don't like it." The little boy clutched his father tightly. "Papa, make it go."

Greg giggled softly, resting his head against his son's as he carried him away from the goat. "Let's go look at the cute little rabbits and things then, yeah?" He brushed his thumb beneath his son's eye, relieved that he had finally stopped crying for Nick.

When they woke up this morning, he loaded everything in the car, trying to get out of the apartment before Nick woke up. He caught them just as they were leaving, giving both of them a hug, before he let them go. Colt immediately started crying, realising that Greg was taking him away from the father he had just met.

He continued to cry the whole way over in the car, until he finally dozed off to sleep.

Even though he felt cruel, Greg was relieved that Colt was asleep when they reached his mother's, so he could have a moment alone to explain everything to his mother, before the toddler blurted it all out.

Even though that didn't go to plan either.

Greg took his son over to the pet's corner, standing him on the low fence to the rabbit's pen. Colt pointed in amazement at the small creatures, watching the fluffy little animals jumping around their pen.

"Look, Papa."

"I know." Greg smiled widely as he looked into his child's eyes.

They reminded him so much of Nick, that it made him miss the older man even more every time he looked at their baby. He set the toddler on the ground so he could stroke the rabbits, while he searched his pocket for his phone. He wanted to call Nick and tell him that he missed him, but he also wanted to make sure that he was still in Las Vegas and hadn't done another runner.

"Papa, I hold him." His son distracted him, pointing to a child a little older than him that was holding a bunny in his arms. "I hold one, Papa."

"Yeah, okay. Let's go ask." Greg put his phone away, lifting his son into his arms. He carried him round to one of the young keepers, asking her if his son could have a hold of one of the rabbits. She selected a little white bunny with black patches, carefully lifting him into Greg's arms once he was sitting down. "You can stoke him." He assured his son, sat on his opposite knee.

"He bite." Colt held his hands away from the rabbit.

"He won't bite you." With his free hand, Greg pulled his son closer against his chest, placing his little hand on the rabbit's soft back. "That's it, now gently stroke him. Gentle, you don't want to hurt him." He warned him, smiling as the toddler carefully stroked the beautiful little creature beside him.

"Papa, what dat?" He pointed to the small creature's long ears.

"They're his ears, so he can hear predators coming from long distances."

"He swim?" Colt pointed to the large water bowl in the pen.

"No, that's his drinking water. He can't hold a cup like you." He pointed out to him, feeling a shiver running down his spine from the cold. He realised that he had forgotten a coat for his son, during his haste to get out of the house. "C'mon Buckaroo, let's go crawling back to Nana's with our tails between our legs." He handed the rabbit back to the young lady, before he slid his hands beneath his child's arms to lift onto his hip as he climbed to his feet. "We can ring Daddy when we get back, see how he's doing."

"I no tail."

"I know you don't have a tail." He smiled at his son, playfully ruffling his hand through the child's hair. "It's just an expression."

"Daddy tuck me in, I go night, night."

"No, Daddy can't tuck you in at bed time tonight." Greg clearly understood his toddler's adorable ramblings. "He stayed in Las Vegas, at our home. We'll see him in a few days, after Nana's birthday party."

"Dat soon?" Colt queried, missing his father already.

"It'll fly by." His father assured him, hoping that it would himself.

After Nick left him, he swore that he'd never get attached to another human being that could break his heart again. But without even realising it, the Texan had wiggled his way back into his life, making Greg feel completely helpless to him again.

* * *

Looking up at the clock as the front door suddenly opened, Jean climbed up from the table, sighing in relief as her son stepped inside with his sleeping child in his arms. "You've been gone for five hours." She whispered, watching him taking his son's sneakers off while he slept. "Where have you been?"

"To the animal farm, dinner at Dad's favourite steak house restaurant, then to Nana Olaf's grave, looking at the stars." On his route back home from the animal farm, he found his son's jacket in the car, so he decided to stay out for a little longer to let his mother cool off.

"And you didn't think to call me?" She folded her arms across her chest, watching him carefully removing the jacket from his toddler. "Your father and I had my birthday dinner without you. What was the point in you even driving over here, if you weren't going to spend time with me?"

"I'm here for the party, not lectures on my love life." He harshly pointed out to her, adjusting his son against his chest. "And I didn't want you to bad mouth Nick in front of Colt."

"As if I would do a thing like that." She shrieked at him in a high pitched tone of voice. "Honey, I've regretted saying all of that since you walked out. Since the moment it even came from my mouth. I admit that I've never exactly warmed up to Nick, but that's not because you like him. It's because of the way he is. He didn't stop dating that Chrissie for months after you two started dating, because he was more worried about keeping up appearances then he was you."

"Mom, that's all in the past."

"I know." She took her son's hand in her own, looking into his eyes. "I did like how he was with you though. The last time you came over together," She reminded him. "He was so loving and protective towards you. I realised I loved him too then, but then he went and broke your heart. You may be able to forgive him for that, but I was the one that had to pick up the pieces. And I can't forgive him for hurting you. What kind of mother would I be if I did?"

"A normal one." He teased her.

"Honey, I love you and I accept everything about you. I don't mean to be a nag. I'm a pushy, controlling old cow, because I still love you."

"I know." He gave her a smile, before he looked at his child in his arms. "Truthfully, I didn't think I'd ever be able to forgive him either. When I first saw him in the lab the other day, the first thought that crossed my mind was that he was going to reject, Colt. I didn't even realise how much I wanted him back, until he showed up at my apartment."

"I hope you gave him hell."

"A little." He shrugged, gently resting his chin against his child's soft head of hair. "Mom, I don't want us to fight anymore. I want you to be happy for me."

"I'll try." She placed her hand on the toddler's back. "It won't be easy because I know how much he hurt you, but I will try."

"Mom, Nick's not well. He's sick." He admitted to her, wanting to tell her everything. "After he left me, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He went through the operations and the chemo all by himself. He should have been with me." He brushed his fingertips across his child's delicate little cheek, continuing, "He's been going back for regular checkups to make sure it hasn't spread..."

"And?" Jean anxiously softly, feeling her stomach twisting with guilt after everything she had said about the man.

"He was just diagnosed with testicular cancer." Greg spoke softly, sniffling back his tears. "Mom, he came back in case he doesn't make it. He wanted to see me. I can't lose him Mom, not now." His mother immediately pulled him into her arms, holding him against her chest. "I can't push him away. What happens if I never see him again?"

"Oh sweetheart, don't think like that." She wrapped her arms tighter around her son and grandson, resting their heads together. "I'm sorry for what I said. I really am. But you can't think like that. Nick... he may be a lot of things. But he's not a quitter. He's a fighter."

"He should have been with me." Greg wiped away the tears from his eyes, not wanting to cry about it again. "While I was at Nana's grave, it got me thinking." He got back to his original point.

"About what?" She gave him a curious look.

"You and Nana were always arguing when she was alive." He reminded her. "She never liked Dad, and she hated the way that you wrapped me in cotton wool all the time. Now you're just the same with me. You never liked, Nick. You still don't and you don't agree with my parenting techniques either."

"Honey..."

"Do you really want us to be at each other's throats for the rest of our lives, like you were with her?" He asked her, adjusting the sleeping infant against his side.

"No, sweetheart." His mother shook her head, finally pulling back from the hug. "That's not what I want. But my mother and me, we weren't at each other's throats all the time. We just didn't agree on a lot of things. She wanted the best for me, and she didn't think that your father was the best for me. She learned to love him eventually."

"Well can you learn to love Nick now, because I do and he might not have much longer left." He pointed out to her, feeling his chest aching every time he spoke about the man. "I want to be with him, Mom. Whatever time he has left, I want to spend it with him. I wanted another baby with him, while Colt's still young, but that's out now."

"Not completely, your grandfather conceived me with one ball." She tried to lighten the mood, receiving a glare in response. "Invite him over, Greg." She insisted, still holding his hand. "C'mon, I can bite my tongue. He should be here. And I want to see you happy. You shouldn't be in tears on your mother's birthday."

"Mom, I don't want you to hate me for being with him."

"How could I?" She wiped away a tear from her son's cheek, giving him a warm smile. "He's just got back; you should be spending time together. Invite him over; I can manage an afternoon in the same room with him. You know I don't like seeing you unhappy. Even if I'm the cause of most of it."

"You're not." He shook his head. "I know you want what's best for me, but you're just going to have to settle for Nick. He's the one I love, Mom."

"I won't pretend to like him." She gave her son fair warning. "I'm glad he's back... for you and for Colt, it's what I wanted for you all along, but for you to get hurt again is not something that I want and I will do anything to protect you from that. Even if you don't want to listen, I'm still going to tell you."

"Okay." Greg gave her a smile, before he pecked a kiss to her cheek. "I love you, Mom."

"The first sign of trouble, you know who you can rely on. I'll help you pick up the pieces... again."

"It won't come to that." He didn't sound very sure of himself, but he was hoping that it would be true.

"I hope so, for your sake." She pulled him into her arms, giving him a quick hug. "I hope you have lots and lots of beautiful babies with him while he's still around too." She cringed as she realised that those words had actually come out of her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

"It's okay. I think I've gotten used to your verbal diarrhea by now." He teased her, taking a step towards the stairs. "Hey Mom . . . I'm sorry." He stopped her from walking away. "I know you're just trying to protect me, but you don't really know, Nick. And to be completely honest with you . . . I'm sick of being alone. You had Dad and your parents when you were raising me, but I don't have anyone."

"That's not true, sweetheart. You have a lot of people who care for you and support you. You only have to ask." She reminded him, giving him a wave. "Good night, sweetheart. See you in the morning."

Greg gave her a smile, leaving his keys on the side table, so he could carry his child up the stairs to bed. His mother had a crib set up in his room, ready and waiting for his little boy to sleep in. He carefully lay his son down on top of the covers on the double bed, so he could dress him in his pyjamas.

Like Nick, Colt was a very heavy sleeper. He remained fast asleep the whole time, not even stirring as his father lifted him and turned him to change him into his pyjamas.

Once he was dressed and ready for bed, Greg placed him in the crib beside his bed, pulling up the side of the crib to keep him safe while he slept. He took a moment to watch his son sleeping, smiling as his breathing lightly whistled through his little nose.

Before Colt was born, he couldn't imagine ever having a baby. He knew that Nick had always wanted children, but he didn't think that he'd ever be able to go through with it. Now that he had his son though, he couldn't imagine his life without him. He couldn't believe that he was even considering the possibility of having another, but he didn't want Colt to grow up alone like he did.

He reached for his phone, scrolling through his contacts towards Nick's new number.

He was too nervous to call him, just in case there was no answer, so he decided to send him a message instead; a photograph to be more precise. He snapped a picture of his sleeping son, sending it to Nick with the message, 'Goodnight, Daddy' attached to it.

(END OF CHAPTER TWELVE)

**A longer chapter this time to make up for the shortness of the last one. Thank you for all of your reviews so far.**

**Happy New Year!**

**~ Holly**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:**

After thirty five years of marriage, Daniel Sanders still knew how to surprise his wife. Although she knew that she was having a big birthday celebration with all her friends and family, she had no idea where it was or what it would look like. He had chosen a country club by the sea, overlooking the beautiful moonlit sky outside.

It wasn't a small party either; Daniel had invited all their family that could make it, along with all of her friends and old work colleagues.

Before today, Greg never thought that his family was exactly very big. He knew that his father was the middle child of five siblings, along with three step siblings after his parents' divorce, but he never realised how many of them there were until they were all in one room together with their own husband or wife and plenty of children between them.

The country club was completely jam packed with the Sanders clan.

His mother was having the time of her life being the centre of attention though.

While his mother was enjoying herself though, Greg was stuck talking to his cousins that he hadn't seen in years. Mostly because he didn't want to. His older cousins weren't exactly the nicest people when they were kids, and he still couldn't forgive them now that they were older.

"We're expecting our fourth in a couple of months," Greg's loud mouthed cousin, Susanne proved that point. He had been sitting alone for a while after his mother took Colt off his hands, just enjoying the view of the ocean outside, until his cousin decided to make her way over and brag about her life again. "We're going over to Maine in a few days for our last holiday before this one pops out."

"How far along are you?" Greg wasn't sure he heard her right, as her bump was barely showing. If anything, she just looked as though she had just gained a little weight.

"Thirty one weeks exactly. It's a boy. We didn't want to know at first, but we just couldn't wait any longer. Now we'll have two of each." As she saw the confused expression on her cousin's face, she reminded him, "Josie's just started the second grade, top of the class already. And Jayden's in the fifth grade now. She started making friends right away. Josh just turned eleven. He's really into soccer at the moment, but he didn't get picked for his school team. What about Carlton?"

He immediately gave her a confused look, guessing she meant his son. "Colt? He's fine. He's three."

"Three?" She looked across the room at her cousin's baby. "And he's still in diapers. And he's so tiny. Josie was much taller than him at that age. Have you been taking him to the doctor regularly? He could have something wrong with his hormones or something."

"He doesn't." Greg abruptly climbed to his feet, grabbing his drink from the centre of the table. "I have to go." He decided that he had been tortured enough by her. He knew that Nick was a very small child, so he had nothing to worry about where Colt's height was concerned. "Dad, can I go home?" He lifted his toddler out of the man's arms, giving him a puppy dog look.

"No." Daniel immediately answered, smiling as he had a sudden sense of déjà vu. When his son was a lot younger, he used to hate family social gatherings and he was forever begging his parents to take him home. "You've been here an hour, Greg. You haven't even eaten anything yet."

"I'm not in the party mood." Greg took a seat at the table, sitting his toddler on his lap. "How did you get apple sauce down there?" He grabbed one of the spare napkins off the table, wiping away the apple sauce from his son's t-shirt. "You getting sleepy yet?"

Colt shook his head, wanting to stay here with everyone else.

"You can't go home." Daniel warned his son, realising what he was trying to do. "Your mother wants you here. She barely ever gets to see you anymore..."

"Okay." He cut the man off. "Don't guilt trip me. I'll stay. As long as I don't have to talk to anybody else." He innocently smiled up at his father. "It seems like just about everybody here has an opinion of how I should raise my son. Did you know that little Olivia knows her ABC's off by heart and she's a year younger than Colt? And Susanne's daughter, Josie was much taller than him at her age. Even one year old Alice knows how to use the potty."

"She can't even hold a cup." Daniel pointed out to his son, taking a seat in front of him. "You can't believe everything everyone tells you. When we were potty training you, everyone had an opinion on how we should be doing it. Sure you can train a one year old to sit on the potty, but they can't tell when they need to go and they still need lots of help. Sleep training was the worst with you. You hated sleeping in your own bed, especially the whole night."

"Colt's fine during the night now, he just likes waking me up early." He playfully tickled his son in his arms, eliciting a delicate shriek from his throat. "Have you eaten?"

"Der." Colt nodded, pointing to his finished plate the other side of the table.

"Did you call, Nick?" Greg's father queried, sensing he was the reason why his son wasn't enjoying himself. "Your Mom told me..."

"I bet she did." Greg rolled his eyes, guessing that she told him everything. "I did call him, but I don't think he's gonna come. I wouldn't want him to anyway."

"Can I borrow him a second?" His mother suddenly appeared beside him, sliding her arms beneath her grandson's little arms. She lifted him into her embrace, giving her son a wide smile. "Thank you, I'll be right back."

"Help yourself." The younger man remarked, watching his mother carrying, Colt over to one of her friends. His mother proudly showed off her grandson to the other woman, completely forgetting about her own son in the process. "I don't think she's that bothered whether I'm here or not." Greg pointed out to his father, climbing to his feet from the table. "I'm gonna need a drink. Make sure I don't get too drunk and hit on the bubble butt waiter."

"Okay." Daniel smiled at his son, waving him off as he made his way over to the bar.

Once he got himself a drink, he made his way round the outside of the party, finding a pillar to lean against. "Hi, Tyler." He spotted a familiar face, also sat on her own. "Your Mom got you to wear a dress then?" He teased his ten year old cousin.

"I hate it." The little tomboy grumpily folded her arms across her chest, showing obvious disgust for the summer dress that she had been forced to wear. "Where's your boyfriend?" She queried, while she returned to folding the napkin she had in front of her.

"Vegas." Greg shrugged, not even sure if he was still there. "What happened to your last boyfriend?"

"I dumped him. I've got a new boyfriend now, Danny. He broke his arm last week. The bone snapped in three places, it was gross." She cringed, getting a smile out of her cousin. "I signed his cast when he came into school yesterday. He said he has a metal plate in his arm now with these massive nails holding it together. I don't ever want to break my arm. Do you think it hurts?"

"I guess so." He shrugged, giving the girl a smile as she was still just as hyper as ever. "It was your birthday last week, wasn't it? Your Mom said she was going to let you choose a pet for your birthday. What'd you get?"

"A kitten." Pulling her cell from her pocket, she handed it over to him to show him the picture she had taken. "He looks like a little fur ball, but he's really cute." Her cousin smiled, looking at the sleeping little fur ball on her phone. "Mommy said he's too little to sleep in my room at the moment. We set him up a little basket in the kitchen, so he's close to his food and stuff."

"He's cute. What'd you call him?" He took a seat beside her, preferring her company over his older cousins any day.

"Mugs." Tyler immediately grinned at him as she saw the confused expression on his face. "Before we named him, he climbed in this empty mug that was on the floor. Whenever Dad's finished his coffee, he always leaves his mug on the floor. Mugs climbed right in, so I called him, Mugs." She finished folding the napkin, handing the neatly folded swan over to her cousin. "Uncle Daniel taught me that."

"I know, he taught me too." He sat the swan on the table in front of him, smiling as he watched his cousin grabbing another napkin to fold another one. "Aren't you tired yet? It's nine thirty." He pointed out the time to her.

"Nope, Mom said I can stay up till ten." Tyler glanced up, spotting her mother walking towards them. "Mommy, I'm still hungry."

"It's an open buffet. Go and help yourself." Her mother pointed out the table of food to her, while she was struggling to hold her twins in her arms. "Hi Greg," She acknowledged her nephew's presence. "I saw Colt. He's getting big. Last time I saw him, he was still crawling. How old is he now?"

"Three."

"Wow." The woman whistled, as she still thought of her nephew's little boy as just a new born baby. "They grow up so fast, don't they? I can't believe my little girl is nearly in her teens. It's so hard to buy for a ten year old. She's grown out of her dolls, but she's not interested in makeup or dresses. None of my sisters have had a girl, so they have no idea either."

"You got her a kitten then?"

"Well, she's been hassling me for a pet for years. We didn't at first because of her asthma. I'm still worried about what the cat will be like with the twins. They haven't tried to stroke him or anything yet, but they're always pulling my hair. I'm nervous to leave them in the same room together." His Aunt giggled, adjusting the babies in her arms again. "Oh, can you do me a quick favour and hold Courtney for a sec? I was on my way to change Connor's diaper."

"Sure." He climbed to his feet, wondering how she even managed to take care of two babies at the same time. He slid his hands beneath little Courtney's arms, lifting the ten month old free from his Aunt Chrissie's arm. "Hi there, shh, shh." He gently bounced her as she whimpered slightly, after being taken away from her mother.

"Thank you, Greg. I'll be right back. Oh, and make sure Tyler doesn't stuff her face while I'm gone. I don't fancy cleaning up sick tonight." She gently tapped her little girl on the back, before she made her way through to the ladies with her son.

Greg retook his seat at the table behind him, adjusting the baby girl to a comfier position against his side. She looked up at him with her inquisitive brown eyes, slowly sucking on the pacifier she had in her mouth while she studied his face. He placed his finger in her little palm, smiling as she immediately curled her little fingers around it.

After Colt was born, the nurse looking after him had told him that it was natural instinct for babies to hold on. Colt's grip was the tightest grip he had ever felt from someone so small.

"You're beautiful." He whispered, brushing his thumb across her delicate little cheek. He loved his own baby more than anything in the world, but he had always wondered what it would have been like to have a baby girl.

"Kidnapping babies now are we?" His mother teased him, taking a seat beside him. "That's Chrissie's littlen, isn't it?"

"Courtney." Greg nodded, gently brushing his hand across her soft little head. She didn't quite have a full head of hair, even at ten months, but she did have a few patches of dark hair. "Mom, where's Colt?" He realised that his son wasn't with her.

"Your father's got him again. He said that you were feeling a little unloved."

"I never said that." He immediately objected, holding Courtney closer, so he could grab his beer off the table. "I'm worried about Nick, if you must know. He didn't sound too good when I called him." His mother wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so she kept her mouth shut for the first time. "Thanks, Mom." He set down his beer, adjusting the baby in his arms again. "Knew I could count on you."

"I don't know what to say, honey. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, least of all Nick, but there's nothing that I can say or do that will make it right. You're old enough to know that your parents don't hold all the power now." She brushed her finger across the back of baby Courtney's hand, reminding him, "You can still try for another baby with him. If not naturally, I heard that men with testicular cancer are offered the chance to put a sample in the sperm bank from their healthy one, before they have any surgery or chemo."

"I'm not just worried about having a family with him. I don't want to lose him."

"I know you don't." She placed her hand over her son's. "You know I'm terrible with words. But I can see it in your eyes. How much you love him, I mean. When you love someone like that, all you can think about is having a future with him. He's going to be around to have more children with you, sweetheart. Like I said, he's strong."

"Hi, Auntie Jean." A little voice interrupted their conversation.

"Hello, Tyler." Jean pulled out the chair for her, helping her niece onto her seat with her plate of food. "Don't get anything down that pretty dress of yours." She handed her a napkin for her lap. "Your father told me that you're going to be a god parent soon."

"Mommy's sister is having a boy." The child nodded, straightening out her napkin over her lap. "Are you having any more babies, Auntie Jean?"

The woman giggled, shaking her head at her niece. "No sweetheart, I'm far too old to have a baby. I haven't had one in thirty five years." She pecked a kiss to her son's cheek as she climbed to her feet. "See you later, sweetheart."

"Mom." He climbed to his feet with her, asking her, "Why didn't you try again later for another baby? If you really wanted more kids, why didn't you keep trying like Aunt Chrissie?" He knew that his Aunt had been trying for seven years before she finally got pregnant with Tyler. It took her another nine years to conceive the twins, making him wonder why his mother hadn't kept trying like she did.

"We had been trying. For years after you were born, we were constantly going to doctor's appointments, having procedures done. Then it was all the miscarriages, operations and all sorts. There was only so much we could take though. We went through so many losses and procedures... we just needed a break." She gently patted baby Courtney on the back, smiling proudly at her son. "There's still plenty of time for you to have another of your own though."

"But if you want something enough, you keep on trying. And you're not the sort of person to give up on something."

"I know I always wanted more children, sweetheart, but I was happy with the one I got." She pointed out to him. "Your Aunt Chrissie didn't exactly have the best time of it either. She may have three beautiful children now, but they went through hell to get them. I don't think I could have gone through what they went through. Besides, I think you'd have turned out differently if you were an older brother, and I probably wouldn't be such a nag if I had more children to dote on." The woman giggled softly, assuring her son, "I don't hold any regrets. I just want to make sure the one I got has the best life that this world has to offer."

Greg smiled at her, turning his attention back to Courtney as she gave out a delicate little whimper.

"Don't worry about me in your decision making." She knew exactly what he was thinking, as he was always so worried about hurting her feelings. "I want you to have lots and lots of babies. As much as your heart desires. All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy."

"Wish I knew what I want. I know I want Nick, but I'm not sure if it's just because I'm afraid to lose him or because of Colt. Can I go home now?" He suddenly changed his trail of thought, getting a smile out of his mother.

"Yes, as soon as I've shown Colt to one more person." She quickly slipped it in, pecking a kiss to his cheek again. "Have you thought any more about christening him by the way? Chrissie is christening her twins in a couple of months."

"We don't even go to church." Greg pointed out to his mother. "Before I got my job, I think I only stepped foot in a church once in my whole life."

"That's not the point of a christening. Think it over; it's a great opportunity for me to spoil my grandson a little more." She giggled, finally leaving his side to find her grandson again.

"Thank you, Greg." His Aunt Chrissie returned from the ladies room, lifting her little girl out of the young man's arms. "Don't ever have twins; they're murder on your arms." She smirked, carrying the two of them back to the table to sit with her daughter.

Greg looked around the room again now that he was alone, spotting a familiar face behind the glass outside. He immediately made his way through the crowd to the outside door, eager to see the man up close.

"Nick." He stepped out the door, letting it close behind him as he looked at the gorgeous man in front of him. "You made it." Stepping closer, he wrapped his arms around the man's shoulders, closing his eyes as Nick hugged him back. "I can't believe you're here. I'm glad you're here." He corrected himself, abruptly pulling back from the hug. "What are you doing here though? I told you to call me before you made your way here. You didn't drive, did you?"

"No." Nick shook his head, looking into the younger man's eyes as they pulled apart slightly. "You look amazin'." He spoke softly, admiring his partner under the moonlit sky. "I've missed you. Not just the one day that you were here..."

"I know." Greg gave him a smile, shivering slightly as he felt the man's hand on the small of his back. "How long have you been here?"

"I saw you with the baby." He rested their foreheads together, entwining their fingers together at their side. "I was gonna come in, but I got caught up thinkin'. I missed seein' you with our baby. I got a glimpse of it when I saw you in there. You had this glow in your eyes."

"It's the florescent lighting." The younger man joked, leaning closer as he realised his partner was shivering. "Do you want to come in and get something to eat?"

Nick shook his head. "I'm not really hungry. And I don't feel like standin' in a crowd."

"Let's go home then." He suggested, getting a smile out of Nick. "I just have to pry our child from my mother's hands. You wonna come help me?"

Nick was hesitant to step inside at first, fearing what Jean would say once she really saw him.

Slipping his hand into Nick's, Greg led him inside, taking him round the outside towards his mother. "Hey Tyler," He stopped at her table on the way. "This is my boyfriend, Nicky." He introduced the man beside him to her. "Nick, this is my cousin, Tyler Sanders. See, I didn't just make him up."

"I never thought you did make him up." Tyler giggled softly, before she handed the man beside her cousin one of the swans she had neatly folded. "Uncle Daniel knew you would come. He said you wouldn't let Greg down intentionally."

"He's right." Nick tightly weaved his fingers together with Greg's, giving him a smile as he looked round at him.

"C'mon, bye Tyler." Greg gave his cousin a wave, leading his nervous partner towards his mother. "Mom." He spoke softly, getting her attention.

"Nicky!" The woman took an unexpected turn, throwing her arms around the man's shoulders to hug him.

"Hi... Mrs Sanders." The stunned older man hugged her back, surprised by her reaction. He thought that she'd be lunging for his throat, not for a hug.

"Wow, aren't you thin." She blurted it out, immediately biting her lip as she saw the expression on her son's face. "I'm glad you made it." She tried to sound genuine, even though she was felt as though she was about to cry, knowing his impending doom.

"I'm gonna take Colt home with us now." Greg lifted their son from Daniel's arms, sparing Nick from any more of his mother's verbal diarrhea. "Good night, Mom." He pecked a kiss to the woman's cheek, before he took his family home. "Night, Dad."

Daniel quickly climbed to his feet, digging into his pocket for some wallet. "Greg... for the cab."

"Dad..."

"Take it." He slapped it into his son's hand. "Love yah, kiddo." He gave him a quick hug, before he shook Nick's hand. He gave him a stern look as if to say 'don't break his heart again', before he returned to his own wife at the table behind them.

In the taxi home, Nick held their son in his arms, watching him slowly drifting off to sleep against his chest. The sleepy toddler kept shaking himself awake every few seconds, trying desperately to spend a little more time with his father, but his exhaustion eventually gave in.

"Did you bring anything with you?" Greg suddenly noticed that Nick wasn't carrying a bag, and he didn't exactly stop anywhere before he came here.

Nick shook his head, giving his partner a slight smile, "It was kinda a spare of the moment thing. After I told you that I didn't think I could come, I couldn't stop thinkin' that I had let you down again. I jumped in a taxi before I changed my mind again, but I didn't bring anythin' but the clothes on my back."

"A romantic gesture or a moment of stupidity?" Greg licked his lips, giving the love sick puppy beside him a wide smile. "I can find you some clothes for tomorrow." He slid his hand into Nick's, entwining their fingers together. "I'm glad you're here though. Did you miss us?"

"You know I did. When we get back, we can start lookin' for a new place for us to live. I picked out a few that you might like. Proper houses, no more dingy little apartments." He warned him, noticing he was about to protest. "I'm here to stay, Greg. You have to believe me when I say that. I'm gonna do right by you. Whatever it takes."

"I'll believe it when I see it." He gently squeezed Nick's hand in his own, looking at their sleeping little angel in the man's arms. "Speaking of the future, more importantly ours... will you have another baby with me?"

Nick immediately smiled, realising that the younger man was serious. "I've never had a proposal like that before."

"We don't have to."

"I never said I didn't want to." Nick stopped him there. "It's just... not a possibility for me at the moment."

The younger man giggled softly, shaking his head at Nick, "I didn't mean right now. That's why I said in the future. We need to get you well again first. The new house and everything can wait; I just want you with us. And maybe one day we can have another baby, so you can experience what you missed out on with Colt. I know it won't be the same, but it'll be a start, right?"

Nick gave him a nod, gently resting his hand against his little boy's back. "Yeah, I'd love to have another baby with you, G. It's all I've ever wanted."

(END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN)

**Finally got this finished after about two weeks of trying to write it :D Thanks so much for your reviews. Hope you're having a great start to your New Year!**

**Thank you for reading, please review!**

**Take Care**

**~ Holly**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen:**

Crawling on his knees across the stone flower bed, Colt reached for one of the loose stones in the dirt, lifting it out of the ground. He brushed his curious little fingertip across the unusual dark specs, before he slid off the flower bed to go and show it to his father. "Daddy, look." He ran up the garden path, towards where his father was sat. They were looking at another house that they might move into. While Greg was in the house with the realtor, Nick and Colt were taking a look at the garden.

"What is it?" From his position on the steps leading up to the house, Nick reached out for his excitable little boy, lifting him onto his lap.

"A rock. Look." Colt placed it in the man's hand, letting him take a look at it.

"Oh yeah, it's got spots on it." Nick noticed. "Where'd you get it?"

"Over der." Before Nick could get a good look at it, Colt took it back, sliding off the man's lap. He ran back down the path towards the flower bed, seeing if he could find another one just like it.

"Please, your birthday was two weeks ago. Everyone knows that presidential treatment for birthdays only lasts a week... tops. So I don't have to do what you say." Greg argued with his mother, as he stepped out the double doors leading to the back garden. He had stupidly told his mother that they were house hunting this week, so she insisted on coming along with them. He told her that she had no say in their decision, but she still wanted to see the houses.

"I was merely suggesting that you take a look at the house that's just become available closer to home." His mother defended herself, carefully stepping around Nick on the steps. "The gardens nice and big though. You could put a swing set or something in it. Not too sure about that though." She pointed to the shoddy work on the fence job.

The panels were falling apart, revealing the back yard of the neighbour's garden.

"Hey," Greg took a seat beside Nick on the steps, gently tapping his knee. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, Colt's already dismantled the flower bed. We better leave before we get billed for it." Nick pointed his attention to their son, getting a smile out of Greg. "I'm fine, Greg. You don't need to keep checkin' up on me."

"I'm worried." He playfully adjusted the baseball cap on Nick's head, so he could see into his eyes without the shade of the visor in the way. "It's natural for me to be worried. You had chemo yesterday, you should be at home in bed."

"Some people go straight back to work after their treatment. I'm no different, so don't treat me different. I'm fine." He insisted, pecking a kiss to the younger man's cheek, before he climbed to his feet. "Do you really not like this one then?" He looked up at the back of the house, realising it wasn't the best choice as it needed a lot of work.

"Its way out of our price range, Nicky." Greg reached his hand out for Nick, so he could pull him to his feet. "And what would we need with four bedrooms and three bathrooms? I know you've always wanted a big family, but I don't think I'm cut out for that many kids. Besides, the kitchen isn't overly big either. It's the first one, the next one will be better."

"What's yah Mom moanin' about?" The older man queried, watching the woman rearranging the flower bed their son had just dismantled.

"Oh, she just wants us to find a house in California. She said it's still technically her birthday, so we have to at least consider it. We can't go though. Our lives are here. I met you here. My job is here. My friends. I know Sara is never really around anymore, but she still thinks of this as her home too."

"I don't care where we live. I go where you go." Nick gave him a smile, holding his hand as they made their way out of the house. "I admit it's not the best choice." He looked at the state of the walls and the ceiling. "It'll need a lot of work. We could always have three kids, and save the last one as a guest bedroom when their Nana visits."

"Oh she'd love that." Greg laughed, leading the way into the front room. He took another look around the room, before he backed himself up against the far wall. "Three kids?" He placed the older man's hands on his hips, as they looked into one another's eyes. "Can you really see us with lots of kids like that? I can barely picture myself as Colt's father sometimes."

"You were the one who said you wanted another baby with me. Don't you want a real family home that our kids can grow up in?"

"Yeah, a baby." He pointed out to him, giving the man a wide smile. "I never pictured us with three kids. Driving them to school, helping them pick out tuxedo's for prom, helping them learn how to drive... I can't think about stuff like that now. Seems like another life."

"It will be. It'll be our future. I have so many good memories of my childhood at the ranch. My parents really made it a family home. Don't you want that for our kids?"

Greg nervously giggled, giving the man a slight nod. "Yeah, it's just weird to talk about this. We have one kid. A baby. I've never planned out anything for the future before. I just take things as they come. Even with you, we never made any future plans before. I moved in with you because I wanted to, not because I was planning on anything in our future."

"Up until recently, I didn't think I had a future." Nick moved closer against his partner, practically pinning him against the wall. "Maybe this isn't the house for us, but I want a house like this for us to live in and raise our children. The kids we may have will need a garden to learn how to ride their bikes in. They'll need their own room each." He tried to sell him on the idea. "I don't know about you, but I don't really like the thought of raisin' our kids on the fifth floor of an apartment buildin'. What's the problem with buyin' a house together?"

"I just never thought I'd be the settling down domestic type." Greg took another look around the room, wondering if he could really do it.

"Things change, G." He chuckled softly, gently brushing his fingertips through the younger man's soft hair. "We have a baby together. We already have a future together, raisin' our son. Once we get a place, what's stoppin' you from marryin' me, Greg?

Greg immediately froze, feeling the blood draining from his face. "Marry?" He gulped the word in his throat. "As in the big wedding thing, a church..."

"Yeah." Nick nodded, brushing his thumb across Greg's chin. "I love you, Greg. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anythin' in my whole life. When are you gonna get that into your head? You can trust me, Greg. I won't break your heart again. I can promise you that on the life of our little boy."

Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, wondering if he could do the whole marriage thing. He had never even thought about getting married and settling down someday, but then again, he had never thought that he would ever have a child either, and he managed that okay.

"Yeah . . . what the hell." He smiled at the older man. "I'll marry you. As long as we don't have to do the whole church honour and obey thing. And as long as you're not doing it because you think that this is the end for you." He quickly warned him. "I won't marry you if you're giving up."

"This is me holdin' on." He leant forwards, pressing their lips together to ignite a kiss. Since he had been back, they hadn't exactly been together romantically a whole lot. The furthest they had gotten was spooning while they slept, holding each other's hand and the occasional peck to the cheek, but nothing serious.

Nick slid his hand to the small of the younger man's back, slowly deepening the kiss to his long lost love. Just like before, their tongues playfully battled for control inside one another's mouth. Nick weaved his fingers through his partner's hair, gently gripping a handful as they pulled apart for air.

"When we do buy a house, we're going to christen every single room." Greg declared, grinning widely against his partner's lips. "That is if you want to. I trust you, Nick. I want you back for real." He assured him, pressing their lips together again. "Don't you want to?"

"Here." Nick reminded him of where they were.

"At home." Greg wrapped his arms around his partner's neck, resting their heads together. He knocked the baseball cap off Nick's head as he did, sending it falling to the rotten wooden floor beneath them. "One more thing." He gently combed his fingers through the man's hair. "There is one way that you can take control of this, without having to hide it."

"I thought you might say that."

"You can't pretend that you're not ill, Nicky. Pretending won't make it go away. At least this way, you'll have a little control over it. I love you; all I want to do is help you."

"I know." He bent down to pick up his hat, replacing it to his head. "Okay." He agreed, slowly lifting his head to look the man in the eye. "I want you to do it."

"You trust me with your hair?"

Nick chuckled softly, giving him a nod. "I'm not expectin' to have any left at the end of it, so I don't think you can screw that up. And despite what I've said in the past about your home made haircuts, I've always thought that your unique hairstyles make you even cuter." He brushed his hand through his partner's messy spikes, messing them up even more. "I trust you with my life, Greg. I want to marry you, because I love you and because I trust you. I want you to be my next of kin."

"Nicky." Greg shook his head, not wanting to talk about the possibility.

"My parents shouldn't be the one to decide what happens to me. I'm not a kid anymore. I want it to be you. There's nobody that I trust more with my life than you. I feel safe with you, like nothin' can hurt me as long as I have you."

The younger man entwined their fingers together, not wanting to think of the possibility of actually losing him. "Only if you're mine." He lifted his head, looking the man in the eyes. "We have to be equal partners in this. I know you're more at risk right now, but anything could happen to me too. I'm not a kid anymore either. It was humiliating having my mother decide what happened to me when I went in for my c-section for Colt. Even though I'm glad that she was there, I wanted it to be you."

"Equal partners it is." Nick sealed the deal with a kiss, adjusting the cap on his head as they pulled apart. "We'll go see this last house on the list, then we'll head home. And stop worryin' about me; I've been through way worse than this." He peeled his partner off the wall, taking him out of the house towards the car.

Jean was already standing by the car, watching over her grandson playing around the fence surrounding the front garden. "There you are, thought we lost you. Are we ready to get going?"

"Yep." Greg lifted his toddler into his arms, carrying him to the car. He strapped him in the back beside his mother; before he drove them all off to the next house on their list. This one was a little closer to the crime lab, but it was set in the middle of a very suburban looking street.

Greg felt as though he had stepped onto the streets of Desperate Housewives, fearing Bree Van De Kamp was about to step out of one of the houses with a basket full of freshly baked muffins.

"This is more like it," He stepped into the house, spotting the large kitchen straight away. He ran his fingertips across the smooth marble counter, before he took a look in the cupboards. Besides being a little dusty, they were perfectly sized and looked brand new. "Dishwasher, washing machine... fridge, freezer... this makes it potentially pricy though, right?" He looked round at their realtor, who was stood talking to his mother.

"Uh... no, it's right in your price range."

Even though he doubted the woman, he continued to explore the kitchen, feeling as though he had just stepped into his dream kitchen. He loved cooking, even though he spent half his life eating things out of the microwave, cooking was a secret indulgence of his.

While Greg continued to explore the kitchen, Nick followed his toddler up the stairs, watching the child taking it one step at a time with his arm extended over his head to reach the banister. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Colt turned left towards the closest bedroom, immediately running for the window to look outside.

"Daddy, up." He reached his arms out to the man, unable to reach the window ledge on his own.

Nick slid his hands beneath his child's arms, lifting him onto his hip. He stepped closer to the window so he could see out, noticing that this garden was a little bigger than the last house. There was a single flower bed along the fence, with a beautifully maintained lawn stretching across the rest of the garden.

They continued to explore the rest of upstairs, finding two bathrooms and three bedrooms. The master bedroom had an adjoining room attached, not quite large enough to be another room, but it could easily fit a small desk or a baby crib. There wasn't a door attached or a window, so Nick assumed that the last owners had used it as a walk in closet or something.

He eventually made his way back down the stairs, setting Colt down as they reached the front room. All the rooms were completely empty, but that didn't stop him from picturing their own furniture in the rooms, making it the family home he had always dreamed of.

"We have to get out of here before I shake the realtor's hand." Greg suddenly appeared beside him, giving him a smile as he looked round at him. "Have you seen the kitchen? It's huge. It comes with a working fridge, freezer, oven... even the ceiling fan. I don't care if we just buy the kitchen, we could live in there."

Nick chuckled softly, trying to calm his hyperactive partner down. "We have to consider the rest of the house too. You haven't even been upstairs yet. I'm glad you like it, but it's only the second house. We don't even know if there's any schools near here or a park."

Greg sighed softly, watching his dream going down the drain. "I didn't even want a new house, now you're taking it away from me."

"I'm not takin' it away from you." Nick pressed a kiss to his partner's pouty lip, adoring him even more. "Come and look upstairs. Colt's already picked out his room. It has the perfect view of the garden outside."

"Can you really see us living in a place like this?" Greg sat on the carpeted stairs, resting his chin in his hands.

"I don't get you, Greg. One minute you're sayin' I'm takin' this away from you, the next you're not even sure if you want to live with me."

"That's not what I said." The younger man defended himself. "I just... I don't want things to change." He vulnerably looked up into the older man's eyes. "Do you love me?"

"Greg." Nick knelt down in front of him. "Yes. You know I do."

"Then you're supposed to accept that I'm not this kind of person. I'm not just going to turn into your dutiful little wife over night, giving you all the children you want and this perfect family home that you've always dreamed of. I'm not like that." He leant forwards, placing his hand on Nick's cheek. "Nicky, you know me. I'd go crazy in a place like this. Don't get me wrong, I love the kitchen, but the rest of it isn't me. Even if we decorate it and personalise it, it still won't be me."

"Greg, I understand what you're sayin', I really do. But how do you know, unless you try? You're just scared, baby."

"Don't call me, baby." He gave him a playful jab to the shoulder. "I had your baby, but that doesn't make me yours." He leant forwards, pressing a kiss to the man's lips. "I love you, Nick. I want your dreams to come true, especially now. But you can't domesticate me."

"I don't want to." Nick assured him. "I want you as you are."

"Then show me a studio flat or a condo. I can't do a stepford wife's house."

Nick chuckled softly, shaking his head at the younger man. "It's not a stepford wife's house. It'll be ours. We can't raise kids in a studio flat or a condo. We don't even have the money for a condo. This isn't really me either, but parents are supposed to make sacrifices for their kids. I don't want things to change either, but they have to. We're not single anymore, we're fathers. We have a life completely dependent on us to survive."

"You think I don't know that? I haven't been his father for less than three weeks like you; I've been his father for the past three years. It's hard, Nicky. How do I know that you're not just going to leave us once we have all of this? Can we please just take this slow?" He climbed to his feet, adjusting the cap on Nick's head. "We don't need to rush into anything, because you're not going to die. Please believe that. We need you here. I need you."

Nick gave him a smile, whispering, "I'm not goin' anywhere."

"Have you seen the asking price on this place?" Greg's mother made her way out into the hall, holding various brochures and things in her hands. "It's horrendous. I hope you're not going for it. It doesn't come with any kind of security. The garden's easy to access from the front of the house and the back doors are only glass."

"We're not." Greg slid his hand into Nick's, pulling him to his feet. "We're gonna stay where we are... for now." He checked that it was alright with his partner, before he lifted their toddler into his arms. "Time to go home. Daddy needs to sleep and you need your lunch." He pressed a kiss to his child's head, realising that he had already made a few sacrifices for his son.

A few more wouldn't hurt.

Later that night, when he finally got their toddler down in his bed, Greg led his partner through to the bathroom. He sat him down on the bath tub, getting a confused look out of the man as he knelt down beside the sink to search for something in the cupboard.

"Ew, you don't shave your balls with them, do yah?" Nick immediately cringed as he saw the clippers in his hands.

"No. And how do you even know I still do that?" He grinned round at him, slowly making his way back towards him. "You haven't seen me naked in three years." He pulled the cap off the older man's head, dropping it to the floor beside him.

"You told me you'd never rock the dick fro, because it makes you look bigger without it." Nick reminded him, gently pulling Greg towards him by his belt loops.

"Sometimes I hate that you know me so well."

"Why?" The older man gave him a curious.

"You already know all my quirks. You know exactly what to expect from me. There's no surprise for you anymore. Not like when you first start dating somebody." He placed his hand on Nick's chin, gently angling his head to kiss him. "Why'd you come back for me?"

"Because I love you. You do still surprise me. I came back expectin' to just find you, but I found our beautiful little boy with you. You've always surprised me. I don't want anybody else but you." He unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it to the floor beside his baseball cap. He raised the clippers from Greg's hand, clutching the younger man's hand tightly between his own, as he whispered, "I wouldn't want anyone else to do this but you either."

"It's just a haircut, Nicky." He gently brushed his fingers through the older man's hair. "It'll grow back before you know it. It's just to give you back a little control. I know how scary it is. I know I've never had anything like this, but I had another life growing inside of me. Everything changed for me, I felt like I had no control over my own body. I know what that's like." He pressed a kiss to Nick's forehead, before he turned on the clippers in his hand.

He slowly started to comb the blades of the clippers through Nick's hair, watching the clumps falling away from one section, before he started on another. Nick eventually closed his eyes, gripping his hands on the bath tub either side of him as he felt the feather light pieces of hair coming away from his head.

Greg eventually turned off the buzzing motor of the clippers, brushing away the rest with his fingertips. He missed the man's luscious soft hair already, but he knew that it was for the best. "Do you want to shower?" He brushed his hand done Nick's chest, brushing away the rest of the hair. "You could always have a bath."

Nick remained sat on the edge of the bath a moment, watching Greg collecting up his hair into a bag. "Will you stay?" He asked him, giving him a nervous smile as he looked up at him. "You don't have to... I just miss..."

"Yeah." Greg dropped the bag into the bin, pressing a kiss to Nick's forehead, before he playfully brushed his hand across the man's shaved head. "You just can't wait to see me naked again."

"If I was that desperate, I'd take a peek while you were sleepin'." Nick teased him, climbing to his feet off the bath tub. He gently placed his hands on Greg's hips, taking a step closer as he looked into his eyes. "I miss you. I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"Water under the bridge." Greg smirked, never understanding that saying until now. "C'mon, I have work tomorrow." He stepped around Nick, turning the hot water of the shower on. He then lifted his t-shirt up over his head, turning to face Nick as he unbuckled his jeans. "C'mon cowboy, you're not gonna make me shower alone, are you?" He purposely left the fly of his jeans open, placing his hands on his hips as he gave the older man a seductive look.

The Texan immediately took the bait, sealing a kiss over Greg's lips as he slid his partner's jeans out of the way. While they continued kissing, Nick delicately ran his thumb across Greg's c-section scar, wishing he had been there at the time of their son's birth. He gave his partner a gentle push backwards into the shower, removing his shorts as the water started to pour down around the man he adored.

"C'mon then, Nicky." Greg combed his fingers through his wet hair, giving his partner a seductive look.

The older man hesitantly reached for the buckle of his belt, nervous about what Greg would think of him now. He eventually dropped his jeans to the floor, placing his thumbs beneath the rim of his boxers. He never wanted Greg to see him like this, but he couldn't hide it from him forever. He slid his boxers down his legs, slowly straightening up to look the younger man in the eye.

"C'mere," The younger man was still focused on his eyes, gently pulling him into the shower with him. He circled his arms around Nick's shoulders, holding his warm body close against his own for the first time in years. "You're shaking." He whispered softly, placing his hand on his partner's newly bald head as he held him closer. "You don't need to be scared with me, Nicky. I know what to expect."

"Well I'm glad you're well informed." Nick pulled back from him, closing the shower door behind him to stop the cold air from brushing across his back. "Greg, I can't..."

"C'mere," Greg reached for the shower gel bottle behind him, pulling Nick closer to soap him up. "I love you." He smoothed his soapy hands down the older man's chest. "You don't deserve this, any of this. I've missed you so much. I just want you back. I don't care that you can't... it's not permanent. There's more to love then sex."

Nick knew that he was right, but he could feel Greg's hard groin against him, without so much as a twinge from his own appendage. He started to feel inferior to the younger man, as though he didn't even measure up to him now.

"Turn around." He whispered against Greg's neck, watching as the younger man slowly turned away from him. He circled his arms around Greg's waist, holding him just like he used to, before any of this happened to him. "It might be more permanent than you think, G."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head over his shoulder, giving Nick a curious look.

"I eh... I haven't been able to get hard since my prostatectomy. It took me three months to get my bladder control back. I gave up tryin' to..."

"You weren't with me." Greg tried to lighten the mood, placing his hands over Nick's on his stomach. "Nick, I don't just want you for sex. I want you completely... for who you are. Did you really think that was the only reason I ever wanted you? Because if you did, then you're seriously stupid."

"Thanks a lot." The man smirked.

"You're welcome." He turned in his arms again. "You're back because this is where you belong. You have a son and you have me. You don't belong anywhere else, and you know that, or you would have found something. You're here to stay, so you better get used to it. For better or worse, you're mine, cowboy."

(END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN)

**Thank so much for all your reviews so far. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I've done extensive research on the types of cancer that Nick has, but I'm no expert. This is Fiction, so I really don't have to worry about getting every single fact straight. Last I checked, men can't get pregnant in this day and age, so it shouldn't bother you too much.**

**Anyone else in England snowed in today?**

**We could have done with all this snow over Christmas, not now. I usually have to walk a mile to get into work, but it comes up to my knees at the moment and that was just putting the rubbish out :D**

**Have a great weekend!**

**Hope the snow doesn't cause anyone too many problems.**

**~ Holly**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen:**

Waking up to the sound of a buzzing alarm, Nick turned his head towards the noise, smiling as he spotted his younger lover diving for the alarm clock on the bedside table. He desperately tried to stop it before it woke up his sleeping partner, but he was too late.

"Damn it, sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Mornin'." Nick gave him a smile. "You headin' out?"

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Ali the babysitter, she's running late. I'm sorry about the alarm. I thought I turned it off. I wanted to let you sleep." He took a seat beside him on the bed, gently brushing his fingertips across his partner's sticky forehead. "You look exhausted. Did you get much sleep last night?"

"A bit." He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, pointing Greg's attention towards his t-shirt. "Your shirt's on inside out, G. You in that much of rush to get out of here?"

"Oh... yeah, Catherine's already texted me the address of my first scene. Brass is waiting for me there, so I gotta get a move on." He tugged it up over his head, turning it round the right way, before he pulled it on again. "I've just gotta wait for Ali to show up. She spent the night with a friend last night..."

"I can take care of him." The older man suggested, seeing the look in Greg's eyes as soon as he suggested it. "Do you think I can't take care of my own child for a couple of hours? Thanks for the vote of confidence, babe."

"It's not that, I just... I can't leave him with you all day, Nicky. You've never had him on your own for a whole day. An hour maybe, but not a whole day."

The older man struggled to a sitting position, feeling insulted that Greg didn't trust him to look after his own child. "Greg, when are you goin' to start trustin' me? I've taken care of my nieces and nephews before. I should be allowed to take care of my own son for a few hours."

"It's not that." Greg assured him. "What you've gone through, you don't need this. You've still got one more treatment to go through. You're not at full strength. I know you can take care of him, I wouldn't trust anyone more than you with him, but I'm worried about you. It's for the best if..."

"Best for who?" Nick stopped him there. "Greg, you can't keep protectin' me like this, especially from my own son. If I don't have that long left, I want to get to know him. Look at me, Greg, I'm fine. I just want to get back to normal. I don't want to be constantly reminded of this every minute of every day. Just let me take care of him. I wouldn't let anythin' happen to him."

"Nicky, please don't talk like that." He took his hands into his own. "It's because I care that I do this. Nothing is going to happen to you, you have to believe that. I need you to. I love you too much to let you go."

"Let me be normal then, Greg. That's all I want. I'm not your child, I don't need protectin'. I just want to get things back to normal. Let me look after him today. You're goin' to have to leave him alone with me eventually; you have a full time job."

"Okay." Greg sighed softly, resting their foreheads together. "You know I'm just worried about you."

"Don't be, I'm fine."

"I wish it were that simple." He smiled at him, gently brushing his thumb across Nick's cheek. He couldn't bear the thought of ever losing him, especially after he had only just got him back. "Okay, as long as you're sure. I'll call Ali and tell her not to bother. I'll try and come home around lunch, just to check how the two of you are doing. Ali was gonna get a few things for me from the store, but you don't have to worry."

"I can shop, Greg." He gave him a glare. "I just said I want to get things back to normal. Normal people shop all the time. Let me do this. What do you need?"

Digging into his jeans pocket, Greg handed over the list that he was going to give to his babysitter, Ali. "Thank you." He whispered softly, receiving a faint smile as the older man climber off the bed, making his way out of the room to use the bathroom.

It was never his intention to upset Nick; he was just worried about him.

Watching Nick returning to the room, Greg climbed to his feet, asking him, "Can I come with you? To your next appointment, I mean. I don't want you to go alone again."

"Greg, there's nothin' to do. I just have to sit there for an hour or so with this thing in my arm. You'll get bored." He sat on the bed, tugging his t-shirt off that he slept in. He glanced up at Greg, seeing the look in his eyes. "Greg, I don't mind that you missed the last few appointments. It's borin'. You hate waitin', and the whole thing is just waitin', so I've never asked you to come."

"You shouldn't be alone."

"I'm not alone. It's a ward full of people goin' through the same thing. They don't have anybody with them. Besides, there's nurses and doctors constantly checkin' on us. I don't want you there." He admitted the truth to him. "It feels wrong even bein' there. I'm knowingly pumpin' somethin' that's harmful to me into my body. I don't want you to see me there."

"Not even in the car outside?" Greg asked, receiving a grin from Nick. "I don't want you to have to get a taxi back again. Please just let me be there for you. You've seen me at my worst. Why can't I be there for you? This trust thing works both ways you know."

"You are here for me." He climbed to his feet, taking Greg's hand into his own. "What you said about there's more to love then sex, well the same applies here. You don't have to be with me every minute of every day to be there for me. You've always been there for me, even though we haven't always been together."

"So I really can't come?"

"No." Nick smiled at him, slowly leaning forwards to cup his partner's cheek in his hand. "If you're really that bothered, you can pick me up once I'm done. I'll text you after." He pecked a kiss to his opposite cheek, before he continued getting dressed.

Greg reluctantly made his way out of the room, finding his toddler right where he left him in the kitchen. "You haven't finished yet?" He retook his seat in front of his son's highchair, giving him a smile as he looked at his messy little face. "Look at you yah mucky little pup." He gave him a cheeky smile.

"I no mucky." The toddler shook his head, giggling softly as his father tickled his bare foot. "Where Daddy?"

"In the bedroom getting dressed. He's awake now." Greg took the spoon off his toddler's hand, using it to scrape away the food that hadn't quite made it into his son's mouth. "Daddy's going to be taking care of you today. You'll have to see Ali another day."

"Papa stay?"

"No, I'm going to work. I might see you at lunch." He grabbed the damp wash cloth he had handy, giving his son's face a gentle wipe. "Did you actually manage to get any in your mouth?" He teased him, glancing up as he spotted Nick making his way towards them. "I'll clear it with Catherine before I come back for lunch. Are you sure that you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He took a seat the other side of the highchair, giving his son a smile as he looked round at him. "Your Mom called last night." He remembered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Apparently you agreed to go to one of your Aunt's christenings this weekend. She wants to know what time we're drivin' over."

"Oh, I completely forgot about that." The younger man slapped himself in the head. "It's my Aunt Chrissie's twins. I only said I might go, because my uncle was standing right there. Friday's your last day of treatment though." He suddenly remembered. "We can't go then. You're going to be exhausted on Saturday and I can't leave you here."

"I'll come with you." Nick insisted, stopping Greg from trying to protect him again. "I can sit in a church for a christening, G. I don't need protectin' from that. I just want things to get back to normal." He complained to him again.

"Okay." Greg climbed to his feet, taking his son's cereal bowl into the kitchen. Realising the time as he walked in, he grabbed his watch and phone, before he started searching for his keys. "Nicky, have you seen my..."

"Table." Nick interrupted him, pointing to the table by the door.

"Thank you."

"Papa." Colt raised his hands. "Get down now."

"I'll get him." The older man slid his hands beneath his child's arms, lifting him out onto his hip. "Go, Greg." He ushered him towards the door. "You're goin' to be late."

"Nicky, if you don't feel well enough, I can find somebody else. I don't expect you to do this to yourself just to prove something. You can take care of him all you like once you're feeling better."

"When's that, Greg?" He set down the toddler from his arms, sending him into the front room to play with his toys, so he could talk to his partner alone a minute. "Do we have to argue about every little thing? I'm not dead yet. I can still do things."

"I know, I'm just trying to look out for you."

"Don't!" He practically shouted at him. "Just stop, Greg. I'm old enough to look after myself. I came back to be with you, not for you to take over my life. I don't need to be wrapped in cotton wool the whole time; I just want to live my life. What I've got left of it anyway."

"Nicky..."

"Greg, just give me a chance." He practically begged him. "I can take care of him for a few hours. I can even bring him by the lab to see you at lunch. I know I'm not much good to you at the moment, but I can at least try and be of some use. Don't write me off yet."

"I haven't, and you are important to us. You're very important to us and our lives. Without you, we wouldn't have anything at all. I know you think I'm just saying that, but I'm serious. You may not have been here this whole time, but you've always been a part of our lives." Greg assured him. "That's never going to change no matter what."

"And you're a huge part of mine, but I don't need you to rule my life. Just leave it to me, it's my life, my choices. I'm your partner, not a kid."

"I'll stop, I swear." He crossed his heart, backing himself up towards the door. Before he could leave, Nick snaked his arms around him, hugging him tightly against his chest. "Nick, you don't have to be superman with me." He whispered against the older man's neck. "Not that the outfit wouldn't look really sexy on you, but you're allowed to feel normal feelings around me. I just want you to tell me what you're feeling or how you are."

"I'm fine."

"You always say that." He pulled back, looking into the Texan's eyes. "I want to know how you really feel. I'm worried about you. I'm scared I'm going to lose you. I don't like what this is doing to you. And I have no idea what to say or do. You have to help me out here. I need some help to help you."

"Greg, you have to go." He pushed him back towards the door. "I love you, but I don't need you or any of this right now. This is my day with my son; don't spoil it by puttin' your worries on me. I've got enough of my own."

The younger man reluctantly grabbed his jacket, finally leaving the apartment. He made his way straight to the elevator, feeling tears stinging his eyes as he waited for it to reach his floor. He knew that he was supposed to consider Nick's feelings first, but he didn't have anybody to talk to about this, because he wasn't allowed to tell them.

Once he reached his car, he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. Even though he was already late for work, he sat in his car with his head in his hands, letting his tears out now that he was away from the people he was supposed to protect.

He finally dried his eyes, deciding to make his way to the crime scene, before he got his ear chewed off by his boss too. He parked behind the detective's car, flashing his ID badge as he made his way towards the yellow tape.

"Hi, Greg." One of the deputies gave him a smile, lifting the tape for him to duck underneath. "How have you been?"

"Bryan." The younger man felt as though he had seen a ghost. He briefly dated the man for about a week and a half last year, before Bryan moved away to another job. They never got very serious, for a good reason too. Greg never told him that he had a baby at the time, or that he was waiting for his long lost love to come back to him.

"Nice to see you too." He grinned at the younger man, watching the blood draining from his face. "I was hoping I'd get to see you again. I was gonna cal you, but I didn't know what I'd say."

"It didn't work out in Atlanta then?" Greg tried to keep it professional, worried that Nick might find out.

"Not so much. My supervisor and I didn't get along so well, so I decided to come back here. If you're not busy later, did you want to meet up for a drink or something?"

"Greg!" He was saved by the voice of his own angry supervisor. "Nice of you to finally show up. I'm glad you're taking the time to catch up on your love life, but we could really use your help over here." Catherine scolded him, practically dragging him away from the gorgeous, blue eyed deputy. "I called you over an hour ago, what do you think you're playing at?"

"I'm sorry."

"Brass called and told me that you hadn't arrived, so I had to drop my case to come over here and do yours. You're lucky my evidence is being processed now..." She paused, noticing how puffy his eyes were. "What's he done now? He's gone again, hasn't he?" She assumed the worst. "I'm gonna kill him for this."

"No, it wasn't..." He inhaled a deep breath. "It's not anything like that. Do you want me to take over now?"

"No, the body is on its way to the morgue. I can finish the scene. You head back to the lab, take over my case. It's a nice easy one compared to this. Just don't start flirting on your way back again. We're short staffed as it is, we don't need you running around after the next gorgeous guy that crosses your path." She ushered him back towards his car. "And Greg, there's no point in protecting him if he's done this to you again."

"You don't understand." He shook his head, slowly turning to face her. "Nick hasn't done anything wrong. He's just... not... he's..." He felt as though he was about to burst at the seams, but he knew he couldn't tell her. "Never mind. I'm sorry, I'll stay double time if you need me. I'll see you back at the lab." He climbed in his car; trying to hold back his tears again as he drove back to the lab. He hadn't cried like this since he first found out, now he couldn't stop himself.

* * *

Crawling on his hands and knees across the wooden bridge, Colt paused halfway, peering through the bars to check if his father was still there. He gave the man an eager wave, receiving a smile in response. They had been here over an hour now, but still the man hadn't told him that it was time to go home.

Colt continued on his path towards the slide, but he couldn't slide down. A boy a little older than him was trying to climb the slide, obstructing everyone else's path. "Want go down." He spoke softly, watching as the boy continued to climb the slide, completely ignoring him and the other children in the process. "Want go."

"Owen, move out of the way of the other children!" His mother shouted at him, watching from the other side of the playground. She abandoned the stroller by the bench a moment, realising her son had chosen to ignore her. "Owen, what did I just say? Get down from there this instant."

"Mom." The child complained.

"Now, Owen!" She glanced up the slide, catching sight of the child at the top of the slide. She thought he looked familiar earlier, but her sight wasn't what it used to be. Now that she was close enough, she could make out his familiar facial features.

"Get down." Colt recognised her too, stretching his arms out for the woman.

"Oh my goodness, Colt. Hello there, sugar, I didn't realise you were here." Reaching her arms out for him, she lifted the infant down from the slide, stopping him from being squashed by her own son. "Owen, get down off the slide. You didn't even move out the way for your own cousin. Where's your father, sugar?" She looked around for him, feeling as though she had just seen a ghost as she spotted another familiar face.

"Daddy." Colt pointed to the man.

"I know, I see him." She made her way round the playground, giving the man a jab to the side to get his attention. "Lookin' for this?" She indicated towards the child in her arms. "What are you doin' here?"

"Nice to see you too, sis." Nick lifted his child from his sister's arms. "What are you doin' here?" He returned the question, as the last time he saw her, she was still living in Atlanta for her husband's work.

"A lot can happen in three years, Nicky." The woman remarked, checking on her children over her shoulder, before she turned back to her younger brother. "Lucas got a job out here two years ago. He moved over himself at first, but comin' back at weekends was too much for him, so we all moved out here. The children hated the idea at first, but now they love it. Greg's had our full support while we've been here too. So, when did you decide to stroll back into his life?"

"A few weeks ago." Nick adjusted his son against his chest, looking into the child's innocent little eyes. "We have to go." He didn't want to get into an argument with his sister, just like they always did. He never really got on with his sister, Vicki as a child, now that they were adults; their relationship was even more strained.

"Nicky, wait." She stopped him from running away again. "We thought that you were... you just disappeared. How could you do that to your son or Greg even? You broke Mama's heart goin' with him in the first place, then you go and break his heart too. Was it all for nothin'?"

"I still love, Greg. And I never intentionally broke Mama's heart, I just fell in love."

"I know that. I may be your stupid big sister that couldn't hack it in med school or stand up to her parents, but I know that you didn't do anythin' wrong. They're just... old fashioned and traditional." She sighed softly, not wanting to go over old ground again. "You have no idea what you did to Greg when you walked out on him like that, especially with a child..."

"I didn't..."

"I know you didn't know. But that's still not a good enough reason to leave him. I'm glad that you finally got to meet your son though." She smiled at the little boy in the man's arms. "Greg told him everythin' about you. Even though you didn't deserve it. He knows more about you than any of us, but he still let us meet him. We had another baby too." She pointed over her shoulder, towards where her teenage daughter was sat. The teenager was staring at her cell phone in her hand, while the baby was sleeping in the stroller sat beside her.

"What did you have?" Nick queried, relieved she had changed the subject.

"A girl, seven months old."

"Congratulations." He gave her a smile, knowing how much she had always wanted another girl. Her first child was a girl, but her next four pregnancies all resulted in sons. She was starting to give up hope of ever having another girl, especially one that liked girly things. "What's her name?"

"Nikki." As soon as she said the name, his ears immediately perked up. "Well, it had been over two years. I really thought that you were..." She didn't want to say it out loud in front of his son. "I know what you think... but I really do love you, Nicky. I'm a nag because I love you." She smiled at him. "It's short for Nikita. Lucas is away at work a lot, but Trish is helpin' me out a lot. She's fourteen now."

Nick nodded, having spotted the familiar teen behind her. "Is that Owen?"

"Yeah, he's six now. Last time you saw him, he was the same age as your Colt here." She reminded him, gently patting the child on the back. "You're a lucky little boy to have your Daddy back, aren't you? Why don't you come back with us for some lunch?"

He shook his head. "No I can't. I'm goin' to the lab to see, Greg. I upset him this mornin', so I can't skip it. A while ago, we promised each other that we'd never go to work mad at each other, in case anythin' ever happened to one of us."

"Smart. Maybe another time then." Vicki suggested, giving her younger brother a quick hug. "We've all missed you, Nicky. Maybe once the reunion phase is over with Greg, you can come over the ranch and see everybody again. Mama's missed you the most. You may be a grown up now, but you're still her baby."

"I'm not a baby." He pulled back from her. "I'll think about it, but I can't promise anythin'. I gotta go."

"Nick, we're your family." She shouted at him, alerting the attention of the other parents in the playground. "When are you goin' to get that through your head? Your family used to mean everythin' to you, but now all your care about is this stupid little man that's ruined your life."

"That's enough." Nick protectively clutched his child tighter against his chest, before he argued, "Greg is my family now. He has unconditional love for me, the way family is supposed to. I don't believe for a second that you've been there for him, because you never liked him from the moment I told you about him. My family is still important to me, but Greg and Colt are my family now."

"So that's it then, no one else matters?"

"Pretty much." He grabbed the stroller, leaving his sister to her tantrum, while he took his son away from her. When he reached the edge of the playground, he realised that there were tears coming from his son's eyes. "Hey c'mon baby, no tears." He gently brushed his thumb beneath his innocent little eye. "Your Auntie's just angry."

"Papa says she a witch." Colt spoke softly, getting a smile out his father. "I want Papa."

"Me too." Nick pressed a kiss to his little forehead. "Let's go see him."

* * *

"I don't know... it's like... it's hard to explain, especially if you haven't been through it yourself." Greg struggled to explain to the woman in front of him, feeling his emotions welling up again. "Why do you want to know so badly how it is to hold a baby for the first time?" He stepped around her, going for the file he had set on his old work desk. "You're not pregnant are you?"

"No, but I'm not just talking about any baby, Greg. I'm talking about your own baby. I don't exactly have any girlfriends who have been through it before, and I'm dreading asking my sister about it. She's younger than me and she already has three of them. I can't stand being alone in the same room with the self righteous little..." Wendy stopped herself from saying it out loud, realising her colleague was smiling at her. "I just thought I'd ask you, because you've been through it before."

"So..."

"So, you have the perfect insight." Wendy followed him around the table, watching him reading through the report. "C'mon Greg, you've got to give me something."

"I don't know..." He lifted his gaze from the file, feeling her eyes burning into him. "I guess... it's like the world just falls away, like nothing else matters. You're holding this amazing little life in your arms that has a complete clean slate of life, and it's like you're a part of something amazing and wonderful, rather than all of this that we have to deal with everyday."

"Really?" Wendy dropped into her chair, wondering how she would feel when it finally happened to her.

If it did, anyway.

"Thanks for this." Greg set down the file, making his way out of the lab. He was about to cross the hall to his office, when he spotted his partner at the front desk, with the stroller beside him. "Nick." He made his way towards him, ushering him away from the desk to talk to him. "You're early; I wasn't expecting you for another hour."

"Colt tired himself out at the park," He indicated towards their son in the stroller. He wasn't quite asleep yet, but he looked as though he was about to at any moment. "Then I bumped into my sister, Vicki. And I started thinkin' that maybe you were right about me not bein' able to handle it."

"You and your sister have never gotten along though." Greg took the stroller off his hands, leading Nick to his office down the hall. He noticed that people were starting to stare at their long lost colleague, and Nick wasn't enjoying the attention. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you about, Vicki. She babysat, Colt once about a year ago, but other than that we've pretty much stayed out of each other's way." He closed the door behind them, before he knelt down in front of his toddler to check on him.

"I knew it." Nick smiled to himself. "She told me she had been there for you since she moved over, but I knew she was lyin'." He looked around the office a moment, before he turned to look at Greg. "This is... Ecklie's old office, right?"

"Yep." Greg nodded, adjusting the blanket over his little boy. "Cath and I share it. One of the new day shift supervisor's has her old office. Ecklie's been moved upstairs and the last supervisor for night shifts had Grissom's, but she moved back to New York. She couldn't take the stress or the weather out here in Las Vegas. It's all been a bit jumbled around here for a while. I miss how things used to be." He smiled at his partner, perching himself on the arm of the sofa. "I know they can never go back to the way things were, but I still miss things."

"Me too." Nick took a seat on the sofa, realising just how much things had changed.

"Are you okay?" The younger man slid off the arm of the sofa, taking a seat beside him.

"Yeah, I just feel as though I've been in a coma or somethin', now I've woken up in a world that I know nothin' about and I don't even fit into it."

"You fit, Nicky."

"Don't comfort me again." Nick pulled his hand away from him. "I don't want you to comfort me right now. I came here to apologise to you. I really need you to shout at me or somethin' for what I said to you. Or even just to listen to me, I don't want all this sympathy crap again."

"Okay." Greg spoke softly, giving him a nod. "I'm listening."

"I really didn't mean what I said to you this mornin'. I do care about your feelin's. I shouldn't have said that to you. I get that you're scared, I'm scared too. I know you're worried, but I don't want you to be. This is why I never came back in the first place. I didn't want to be a burden to you. I didn't want you to take me back out of duty."

"I understand what you were saying though, Nicky. You don't need my worries as well as..."

"Stop doin' that." Nick cut him off, rolling his eyes at him. "Seriously Greg, you never used to be like this. You used to fight me on everythin', now you're just agreein' with me all the time, sayin' you're the one in the wrong, when you know that you're not. I don't think I can take this much longer. Stop defendin' me and just call me the asshole that I am."

"Nick..."

"Grow a back bone and stand up to me." He practically shouted at him. "The Greg I knew isn't like this. You don't let people walk all over you like this, especially me. Shout at me, Greg, anythin'. You're actin' like a robot. Did I really break you that much?"

"I'm not a horse." Greg glared at him, before he turned his attention to their son in front of them. "I don't want to fight you. I just want you back. The old Greg would have pushed you away the second you came back. I wouldn't have even given you a chance."

"Then why did you?"

"I didn't at first." Greg reminded him of the first time they met in the lab. "It was just me then, but then you were there... in front of him." He pointed to his sleepy toddler in front of them. "Before all of this happened, I was a care free spirit, but I've had this little life depending on me for the past three years. I had to change. I can't just think of myself anymore, I have to think of him all the time. I couldn't push you away then, because he needs you."

"Is that the only reason?" He queried, seeing something in Greg's eyes. "What? Tell me, Greg."

The younger man inhaled a deep breath, slowly turning his head to look at Nick beside him. "Guilt."

"What have you got to feel guilty about?"

"All this time, I thought that I had done something to push you away. I wasn't exactly there for you after Warrick, or while he was going off the deep end. I was more worried about my book than what Warrick was doing. I didn't even listen to you after you told me he was taking uppers and downers."

"Greg..."

"My turn to talk." He interrupted him, leaning back against the sofa cushions behind him. "I wasn't there for you. I thought that I had pushed you away and you left because I didn't give you what you wanted. So I took you back out of guilt."

Nick rested his chin in his hands, asking, "Do you wish I never came back?"

"No... I wish you came back sooner." He placed his hand on Nick's knee, causing him to look round at him. "When you came back, I thought that I wouldn't have to do all of this alone anymore, but now you're sick... I have to do all this and more, all on my own. I know it's not your fault that you're sick, but I wish you weren't, so you could just take over like you used to and sort everything out. I needed you to take over and take care of us, but you can't, so I have to do it for you. I took you back for that reason, because I needed you to take care of us. Is that stupid?" He wiped the tears from his eyes, looking at Nick beside him.

"No, it's not stupid. I still can take care of you. You just have to let me." He weaved his fingers between Greg's. "This is exactly what I'm talkin' about, Greg. I don't need you to take care of me. I never asked you to. I want things to get back to normal. You don't have to take all of this on your shoulders."

"That's what I wanted when I took you back... but I'd feel guilty if you did it now."

"Don't." Nick simply answered him. "You know I'm not happy unless I'm in control. At the moment, I feel as though I have no control over my life. When you wouldn't even let me look after my own child this mornin', you really stuck the knife in. I don't want to be coddled like a baby; I want some control over my life. I can't control what's happenin' to me, but I can do somethin' about our lives. That's why I wanted to get us a new place."

"I'm sorry." Greg realised that he had done everything wrong again.

"Don't be sorry, just don't baby me anymore. We have a baby together, we're supposed to work together to raise him." He leant closer to his partner, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, Greg. You haven't done anythin' wrong. I didn't tell you, so you couldn't have known."

"How about from now on we tell each other everything?" He made a new deal.

"Done." Nick nodded. "Hey, I like this honesty thing." He smiled at him, reaching his other hand out for Greg's. "Now gimme yah car keys. I don't like takin' taxis everywhere with a stroller. It's embarrassin' tryin' to fold the thing up all the time and taxis don't exactly have the best safety belts."

Greg grinned back at him, before he reached into his back pocket for his keys. He dropped them into Nick's hand, receiving another kiss to his cheek. "Are you going to the store now?"

"Yep, and I'm cookin' tonight. My treat." He climbed to his feet, stuffing the keys into his pocket. "Greg, thanks for hearin' me out. In the future, don't worry about hurtin' me, just tell me the truth. I've been a dick to you; I don't deserve the treatment you've been givin' me."

"Okay." Greg gave him a nod, climbing to his feet to quickly hug the man. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure, what?" Nick looked into his eyes, sensing it was serious. "Hey, what did we just agree?"

"Can you tell Catherine about the cancer?" He spoke softly. "Please, she keeps going on at me like you're the bad guy. I want to defend you to her, but I end up in tears, then she just jumps to conclusions. She's not going to go off on one or crucify you like your sister, she's your friend. A good one too, you can't afford to lose her."

"Okay, I will. But not now." He sealed a kiss over Greg's lips, gently brushing his thumb beneath the younger man's eye. "Don't worry about me, baby. I'm fine. I'm gonna go before I get you into trouble. Don't work too hard and call me if you're gonna be late."

"My very own house husband?" The younger man cheekily smiled at him.

"You wish. As soon as I'm well enough, I'm takin' back my rightful spot as bread winner." He circled his arm around Greg's waist, bringing him in for another kiss. "Seriously, don't worry. I'm fine. My sister didn't even notice that anythin' was wrong with me, so I must be." He made his way back to the stroller, letting Greg say goodbye to the sleeping toddler, before he made his way out of the building.

Watching the older man walking away, Greg felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It wasn't a huge one, as he still had his partner's cancer worries pressing against his mind, but it allowed him to breathe a little easier, knowing he could depend on Nick a little more than he had been.

(END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN)

**Snowed in all weekend, so I managed to write an extra long chapter for you. Thanks so much for your reviews so far :D Keep em coming.**

**~ Holly**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen:**

"This is your Aunt..." Nick shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, trying to remember the name that he had been told more than a dozen times, but he still couldn't remember it. They had just arrived at the after party, shortly after the christening of Greg's cousins, Courtney and Connor. Nick wasn't paying a lot of attention to what was going on at the time, as he woke up feeling pretty rubbish. He wanted to skip the whole event altogether, but he didn't want to stay home alone.

"Chrissie. Aunt Chrissie." Greg finally filled in the blank, tossing their jackets onto the sofa that had been assigned. "I've told you like a million times now." He adjusted the older man's shirt collar, looking into his eyes. "You used to be able to retain information the second it was told to you. Are you okay?"

"I'm just tired, G. I'm glad it's finally over, but now I'm exhausted." He had just gone through his last chemo therapy session the day before, meaning he just had to wait and see if it worked now. "C'mon, we'll stay for a little while, then we'll head back to your Mom's. I can last that long."

"Okay." He entwined his fingers with Nick's, following him through the crowd of his family members. "That's her husband, my uncle Callum." He pointed the man out to his partner. "He's my Dad's little brother. There's my Aunt Chrissie, his wife. And the twins, Connor and Courtney. Tyler is their eldest. She's... there." He spotted her in the kitchen, wearing another pretty dress with her hair in pigtails this time.

"That Tyler... she's from your Mom's party." Nick remembered, receiving a smile from his partner. "See, I'm not senile yet. So they're all your family." He looked round at them all. "You told me your family wasn't very big."

"I said not as big as yours. I'm an only child and so was my mother. My Dad has the big family, but I never saw them much growing up. They're not as close as you are with your family. We see each other for these kinds of things, but they only happen every ten years or so." Greg led his partner straight to the food, trying to get him to eat something, even though he still felt nauseous after yesterday. "By the way, don't let my Mom try and talk you into christening, Colt. She's been going on and on about it for weeks now."

"You didn't get him christened?" Nick looked a little surprised.

"No, I don't believe in that stuff. How can a baby have sinned so badly? The point in their birth is a clean slate. I don't need him christened to make him pure." He spoke without even thinking, forgetting that Nick came from a Christian upbringing. "My Aunt Chrissie doesn't even believe in any of that. She just wanted more gifts. She missed out on the baby shower, since she was in hospital for the last two months of her pregnancy. She had a blood clot or something."

"It's not all about the sin part, G." Nick informed him, "My folks christened me because it was traditional and it brings all the family together to celebrate the birth of a child. They never believed that a baby could have sinned either. It was just how they were raised. I think it also has somethin' to do with gettin' married. Some churches only accept couples who have been christened. My sister got her husband christened a few months before their weddin'."

"Seriously?" Greg had never even heard of that little law before. "What was he in his thirties or something? Can you really get christened at that age?"

Nick gave him a nod, taking a seat on one of the empty chairs. "A baptism. It's also a chance to name god parents, in case anythin' ever happens to the main parents. Would you want Colt to go into care?"

"So you're on my mother's side now?" He took a seat beside his partner, watching him picking at his food. "If you don't believe in any of it though, don't you feel a bit like a hypocrite? I would. My Mom thinks it's just going to be a good excuse to spoil him." He pulled his chair closer to Nick, as he saw the look on his face. "Do you want him christened? I never knew that faith was that important to you."

"It's not." Nick set his plate down. "My folks didn't force religion down our throats. We had to attend church and things, but they let us make our own minds up. I've never really believed in somethin' I can't see. Religion isn't important to me, but family is important to me. It's just... traditional. And it protects our child. If anythin' ever happened to us, I don't want him to end up in care or somethin'. He should be with people who know him and love him."

Instead of arguing with his point, Greg asked, "Who would you pick?"

"Warrick." Nick spoke softly, giving his partner a slight smile. "I know that's never gonna happen, but I would have picked him. Tina had no right to keep his own son from him. He would have made a great father." He slid his hand into the younger man's, weaving their fingers together. "I never had a friend like him before. He always put everyone else before himself. We used to compete on cases, but we always ended helpin' each other out in the end."

"I remember." Greg smiled at him, remembering the banter between the two of them when they came by his lab. "He mentored me when I first started out on the field. You helped a lot, but he was a better teacher than you. No offence." He gave him a grin. "You let me get away with a lot and helped me out more than I would have liked. Warrick told me everything I was doing wrong, but he still let me find my own way around a crime scene. He was like... the big brother I never had."

Nick gave him a smile. "I'm glad you didn't see me that way. Warrick used to tell me everythin' I was doin' wrong too. We fought a lot, but we never held grudges. He was like the brother I wish I had. I barely know my own brother."

"I used to think that you two were the cool kids on the playground and I was way out of your league."

"You were never out of my league." Nick assured him, gently brushing his thumb across the back of the younger man's hand. "I thought I was way out of yours. You're younger than me, but you've always been so much more confident and lively. I love that about you, but it makes me wonder why you'd go for someone like me. You used to love, Sara. I'm nothin' like her."

"I loved Sara for a different reason. And I never loved her as much as I love you. She was just a crush. I loved her more once I got over my little crush. She's more like a sister to me than anything else, so you have nothing to worry about."

"I know. I'm not jealous, because I know she goes for older guys and you play for the other team." He grinned at him. "I'd want Sara too. To be a god parent to our son." He quickly corrected himself. "I know she's never exactly been kid friendly, but she's loyal to her friends. She's always been protective over you. Maybe it's the whole bein' in care thing, it makes her appreciate her friends and family more than others."

"Sara it is." Greg agreed, leaning forwards to press a kiss to his partner's lips. "I've really missed having adult conversations with you. I've had the company of a baby for the past three years, who's only just learnt to talk in understandable sentences."

Nick chuckled softly, pulling back from Greg slightly to search for their toddler.

After the christening at the church, Jean and Daniel had gone ahead to the after party with their grandchild, as he was fast asleep. He appeared to be awake now, but he still looked a little groggy, resting in the arms of his loving grandmother.

"I still feel as though I barely know my own son." He admitted, turning back to his partner beside him. "I can tell when he's about to cry or how tired he is by the glaze of eyes, but I don't really know him. You're great with him though. And I saw you with Tyler earlier. You're great with her too. You know exactly how to talk to her. I really don't think that you have anythin' to worry about when he gets older."

"I can't imagine him older though. He's my baby. I can't imagine having the father, son relationship that my Dad and I have."

"I'm sure your Dad felt the same when you were just a baby." Nick pointed out to him. "I don't think anyone can really imagine their baby all grown up when they're still this young. Your Dad's probably used to you bein' a grown up, because he got to watch you grow up. You'll feel the same as you watch your son growin'."

"So will you. You've had a calling as a father all along; you just never had a child of your own. You'll get to know him, the more time that you spend with him." Greg pressed another kiss to the man's lips. "You really want to get him christened then?"

"Yeah... if you don't mind."

"I'll do it for you." He smiled against his lips, tempted to kiss him again. "I never thought in a million years that we'd have a conversation like this." He brushed his thumb across Nick's chin, looking into those eyes that he adored. "But I've really missed talking to you like this." He brushed his fingertips across each of the man's cheeks, whispering, "Remember at Catherine's party, Sara and Catherine set us up with those flakes, but we spent the whole party just talking to each other."

"Yeah, I remember." Nick smiled at the memory. "How could I forget, it was the first night I kissed you."

"Yeah, but you called it a drunken mishap the next day..."

"Right before I kissed you again." He defended himself, sealing a kiss over the younger man's lips to remind himself of the event. "I can't believe it took me three months after that to realise what I had right in front of me the whole time."

"What are you two so loved up about?" Jean appeared beside them, handing her grandchild over to her son. "Hold him a minute, I gotta go pee."

"Too much information, Mom." Greg handed his plate over to his partner, so he could hold his little boy against his chest. "Ooh, sleepy little boy." He readjusted the child against his chest, looking into those familiar glazed eyes of his. "Oh Mom, you're going to love this." He stopped her from walking away so soon. "Nicky and I have been talking, and we've agreed that we want to get Colt christened."

"Oh don't say something like that, I'm about to wet myself as it is." The woman giggled with excitement, giving her son a quick hug. "We'll talk more about this when I get back." She pecked a kiss to Nick's cheek, before she hurried away to the downstairs bathroom.

"Why are you so sleepy, little man?" Nick gently placed his hand on his son's back. "You went to bed early last night, then you had a lie in this mornin'."

"Yeah, but he's been running around with my cousins all day." Greg pointed out to him. "You burnt off all your energy in the swimming pool too, didn't you?" He playfully pressed kisses to his toddler's forehead, getting a small smile out of him. "You wonna head back before my Mom talks our ears off about the christening?"

"Yeah." The Texan agreed with him, pushing himself to his feet, before he helped his partner up. "Want me to carry him?" Without waiting for an answer, he slid his hands beneath his son's arms, gently turning him as he lifted him out of Greg's embrace. He held his son close against his chest, feeling his little heart beating against his own. "Did you leave Pancho in Nana's car?"

Colt gave his father a shrug, not sure where he last put his teddy bear.

"Let's go find him." Nick readjusted the child against his side, trying to think where he saw the bear last.

"I'll go see if we can still get the car out." Greg gave his partner a smile, making his way towards the front door. He stepped outside, finding Tyler sat on the steps. "Hey, Tyler." He took a seat beside her, noticing that she was holding her thumb in one hand. "Whatcha done?"

"Mugs scratched me." She peeled away her fingers from her thumb, showing him the cut to the tip of her thumb. "I was only playing with him. He ran away." She pointed to the little mouse toy that was dangling from a string.

"It doesn't appear to be bleeding that bad." He carefully examined her thumb, guessing that it stung a little as she immediately gritted her teeth together. "I'm sure he didn't mean it. He's just a little kitten. Where is he?"

"He ran off." Tyler held her thumb in her hand again. "He's never been outside before. What if he gets run over or lost? He doesn't know where we live. He doesn't even have a collar on. He kept taking it off."

"Well... he can't have gone far." Greg looked around the front garden, wondering how far a little kitten could get in such a short space of time. "C'mon, I'll help yah look." He saw how upset she was, not wanting to leave without at least trying to help her. He reached out for her hand, helping her to her feet. "What was his name again?"

"Mugs." She followed him through the cars piled up in the driveway, searching for her kitten underneath them. "Mommy said I shouldn't play with him outside yet, but there's too many people inside. He doesn't like too many people. Noises scare him too. He ran a mile when he first heard Dad's coffee machine grinding the beans."

"He would. They don't call em scaredy cats for no reason." Greg knelt down beside a car that was low to the ground, taking a look underneath. "Wait a minute..." He leant up on his knees, putting his finger to his lips as he looked at his cousin beside him. "You hear that?"

Tyler turned round as she heard the cry of her kitten. She quickly made her way towards her Auntie Jean's car, guessing that he was around there as his cries got louder. "Mugs!" She dropped to her knees and elbows, spotting her little fur ball cowering underneath the car. "Greg, he's under here. Greg, hurry."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He knelt down the other side of the car, seeing the little fur ball known as Mugs for the first time. "That's a cat?" He looked different from the pictures he had seen.

"Save him, Greg!" His younger cousin snapped at him.

"Tell no one, I don't want to ruin my rep." He reached one hand out for the fur ball, making it shriek as he lifted him out from under the car. Greg struggled to his knees, handing the kitten to his cousin as she ran round the car to see if he was okay. "I think he'll survive. You should probably get him back inside though."

"Thanks, Greg." She cradled her baby kitten against her chest. "Do you like him?"

"He's alright." He gently stroked his hand across the little fur balls back. "He's a little small. I'd end up losing him all the time. When Colt was a baby, if I put him down somewhere, he was always right where I left him. This little guy runs around all the time."

"Daddy said they have to learn how to walk quicker than us, so they can survive in the wild from predators."

"That's true." Greg nodded to her, looking over her shoulder as he spotted his partner smiling at him. "Nicky and I are heading off now. Say goodbye to your folks for me and give your little brother and sister a hug from me."

"See yah later alligator."

"See yah in a while crocodile." He responded, climbing to his feet.

"Not so soon yah big baboon." She teased him, giggling to herself as she made her way towards the steps. "Bye, Nick."

"Bye, Tyler." Nick opened the door for her, watching her carefully carrying her kitten inside. "We found him." He pointed out the teddy bear, Pancho in his arms. "He found his way to the coat pile. So eh... how long have you been rescuing kittens?" He teased him, getting a playful poke to the side. "I was only askin'. It's about time you found your true callin'."

"Shut up." Greg frowned at him, taking his jacket off the man. "Do you expect me to just leave her to look for her cat herself?"

"No, I think it's a very noble thing that you did." Nick smiled at him, chuckling softly as he followed his partner to the car. "C'mon baby, you know I didn't mean anythin' by it. It's a shame you weren't wearin' a sexy spandex outfit..."

"I really don't have the figure for spandex anymore." Greg opened the back door for him, so he could put their son in the car first.

"You have an amazin' figure." He stole a kiss from Greg's lips, before he knelt down to strap his sleepy son into the car. He pressed a kiss to the sleeping beauty's forehead, double checking that he was properly strapped in, before he climbed to his feet again. "I've been dyin' to get back to the gym to get my figure back. Not literally."

"Maybe you should think about some kind of vacation after this, not working out at the gym."

"I don't want a vacation; I want things back to normal." Nick reminded him, taking the keys off Greg's hands. "Goin' to the gym, drivin', shoppin'... they're all the normal things that I want to be able to do again."

"And you can, I just thought that you'd want some kind of vacation after all of this. Just the three of us, so we can really reconnect."

"Sounds good." Nick opened the passenger side door for his partner, giving him a wide smile as he climbed inside. "Where would you want to go?"

"I don't mind, just as long as it's just the three of us alone together." Greg leant back in his seat, looking up at the man he adored. "We are going to be okay, aren't we?"

"Of course," Nick knelt down beside him, taking Greg's hand into his own. "Greg, I feel fine. The first time around was much worse than this. I was in agony for months, so I know it's worked this time. I can feel it. You have nothin' to worry about." He leant closer, pressing his lips to his partner's. "C'mon baby, we've got a future to think about. We can start lookin' at houses as soon as we get back and talk to the doctors about how long we'd have to wait to start tryin'."

"You want another baby right away?" Greg looked at him surprised, placing his hands on his stomach as if to check that he wasn't pregnant right now. "But... it feels like I only just had Colt a few months ago. I know you want a big family, but do we have to start right away?"

"Well not right away, but soon. As it is, Colt's goin' to be four when we have another baby. There's a huge age gap between my sister Vicki and me, and we've never gotten along. My Mama said that she always resented the attention bein' diverted to Kayla after she was born. Then after me, she only got worse. I barely know my older brother and sisters. Kayla's the only one I really got on with, because we grew up together. There's only a year between us."

"That's not true, you get on with Gwen. There's like, ten years between you two." Greg remembered, "You two are pretty close."

"Yeah, but she mother's me." Nick pointed out to him, placing his hand over Greg's on his flat stomach. "Greg, I missed out on your pregnancy with Colt. Sure I have pictures and things to look at, but it's not the same as actually bein' there at the time. I don't care how long it takes, but I really want to have another baby with you. I don't mind if we wait a while, I want you to be ready too. I will treat you like a prince this time."

"Even if it takes years?" Greg suggested, sucking in a breath as he leant forwards. "Nick, the chances of me getting pregnant in the first place were like one in a million. It could take years; probably longer with your... you know..."

"One ball?" Nick smiled at him. "It's okay, you can say it. If that's the case, then we can talk to a doctor about IVF or somethin'. There must be somethin' they can do. We can't leave it too long though. The older Colt gets, the less time he'll have to bond with them. You saw how Tyler was today; she wasn't exactly interested in her brother and sister getting christened. She doesn't exactly help out either. She was jealous of all the attention the two of them were gettin'."

"That's just sibling rivalry, because she's always been the baby of the family."

"Exactly, I don't want Colt to resent his younger brother or sister for that, or us." Nick explained to him, trying to bring him round to the idea. "My sister, Lillian had all her kids together, so that the diaper changes and things were concentrated to short period of her life. Now that her kids are all in their teens, they're all really close. She's never had any problems with sibling jealously or anythin' like that."

"Yeah, but she doesn't have a career." The younger man argued, seeing his own career going down the drain. He couldn't exactly keep taking a year off every time he got pregnant. And Nick wasn't the type to stay in all the time either, so he couldn't picture him staying home to take care of all the baby's that they would have. "She's been a full time Mom her whole life. I love Colt, but I'm not willing to give up my life for him or any other that we might have. That may sound selfish, but that's just me. I hated being alone taking care of Colt. If you're going to be the bread winner, that means I'll be stuck at home with screaming babies and messy diapers."

"Greg, I'm talkin' about one or two in the distant future." Nick tried to put his mind at ease. "I'm just suggestin' that we have another sooner rather than later, so Colt has somebody to grow up with. I don't want him to be alone."

"I'm an only child. I was never alone." His partner pointed out to him. "And what about the fact that a baby only comes with more demands? Colt's still a baby himself. He's in diapers. He can't quite feed himself without making a mess. There's the bed time routine, bath time and his afternoon or mid morning nap. A baby would mess that all up. Can't we just wait a while?"

"Havin' a little brother or sister around might give him more independence." The older man continued to try and sell him on the idea, even though it didn't appear that he was getting anywhere. "We don't even know how long we have to wait yet. I just thought that we could find a house with an extra room, just in case we did have another little boy or a little girl. I know the future scares you, but there's nothin' to be scared of. We really are goin' to be okay, Greg."

"Yeah." Holding Nick's hands in his own, Greg sucked in a sharp breath, before he asked him, "More babies, a christening, a new house . . . what else have you got for me?"

Nick gulped softly, before he whispered, "Marriage?"

END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN

**Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think.**

**Have a great weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:**

"You've been married before, is it really all it's cracked up to be? I never even thought of ever getting married. I know everyone has the dream of what their life will be like in twenty or thirty years, of their career, where they'd live, babies, partners, but I never did. I always thought that it would just work itself out as I went along in life." The younger man continued to ramble, not even sure if his co-worker was listening to him at this point, but he wanted to say his piece. "In the blink of an eye, I've got a baby, a boyfriend that doesn't seem to be going anywhere and now we're house hunting for a place where we're going to raise our children. And someday grow old together. We'll both have hip replacements, hearing aids, false teeth and slippers right by our beds."

"Is that so horrible?" Catherine smiled at her colleague, guessing that things between him and Nick were getting even more serious. "So he proposed?"

"Not so much. Not in so many words. Not in the proposal sense of the..."

"Did he or didn't he?" The woman gave him a confused look.

Greg shook his head, slumping into his seat behind his desk. He was meant to be heading home after his long shift, but he really needed somebody other than Nick to talk to for a moment. Catherine was alone in their shared office at the time, so he thought that she'd be the best choice.

"What's the matter? Is it that you want a proposal or that you didn't get one or maybe it's that you don't want one?" She confused him with the questioning.

Instead of giving her an answer, Greg remembered, "I met a friend of mine from school a few weeks ago. Back then, she was on her way down the yellow brick road to become a top surgeon, but she threw it all away for a husband, five children, a golden retriever and a fish. She told me that she wasn't surprised that I wasn't married, because I never seemed like the marrying kind. How can you tell if you are or not? Once someone dubs you as the un-marrying kind, is that it for you, you're just doomed to be alone for the rest of your life?"

"I would hate to live in your head." Catherine remarked, giving him another smile. "There's no such thing as the... un-marrying kind, if that were even a word. There's the care free people who marry because it feels right. There's the ones that get married because they're pregnant. There's the ones that say they really love each other, but it lasts less than a few months after the honeymoon phase is over. Just because you haven't gotten married yet, it doesn't dub you as the un-marrying kind."

Greg sighed softly, sitting in deep thought for a moment. "Do you think it's me? Do I give off this un-marrying vibe?"

"Please stop saying that. You haven't gotten married, because you haven't found the right person to get married to. Simple as that. Would you rather that you had married your first love?"

"I don't even know who my first was. There were a few maybes, but none of them even compare to..." He didn't want to say his name out loud, as Catherine was still a little tense about the situation. "In college, I thought I loved this guy more than anything in the world. I probably would have married him if he asked me. Then he cheated on me and there was that whole business with the herpes... it's a long story." He gulped, wishing he hadn't said any of that. "I said I probably would have married him at the time, because I really liked him, but he probably would have screwed me over in the long run. Why did you get married?" He changed the subject, before he embarrassed himself further.

"Because he asked me." The woman shrugged, putting down her glasses for a moment. "I was still a dancer then. I never really got that excited about it, but when a nice guy like that shows you a little attention that isn't unwanted, you have to go for it. We started seeing each other a lot. I don't think I loved him for a long while, but one night he asked me to marry him, and I just naturally replied. I never thought of myself as the marrying kind. I still don't know how I did it for as long as I did, but I'm glad I did." She smiled at him, quickly adding, "I wouldn't do it again though."

"Why?" He climbed to his feet, making his way over to her desk. "Was it that horrible?"

"No, it's just..." She folded her arms across her chest, trying to think of the right words. "It felt a bit like a restraint at first. Binding yourself to one person for the rest of your life, it feels a bit weird and unnatural, but we eventually got into our routine. Of course then, I never knew that he was cheating on me. Marriage should be a onetime thing in my books. I tried it out for a little while, but I'm done with it now."

"That's because it used to be, a restraint I mean. Cave men used to tie up their wives to stop them running away. Once they finally got the picture, they tied a loop around the love finger so that they'd never forget that they were owned. Now we just put rings on one another's fingers, thinking it's romantic." He filled her in on his latest internet search.

"It is romantic. In their own twisted way, I'm sure cavemen thought it was romantic too." She chuckled, climbing to her feet from her desk as someone knocked on the door. "So I assume that all this has something to do with Nick?" She made her way to the door, accepting the file from the young man in the doorway. "Thank you." She briefly flipped through it, slowly turning back to her desk. "Did he actually propose or are you just worried that he might?"

"He did and he didn't... not in so many words anyway." He gave out another sigh, wondering when his life got so complicated. "I think I'd regret it if I didn't marry him, but I don't feel like I can. I want to because I love him, but is that a good enough reason? I can't see myself with anyone else, but I can't do the whole wedding thing. Every time I think I'm coming round to the idea, something sets me back. I love him more than anything, but do I have to walk up the aisle with him to prove that?"

"Shouldn't you be talking to Nicky about this?" She took her seat at her desk again, searching for where she had put her glasses down. "If marriage is really something that means very little to you, then don't go through with it. Nothing will really change between you two; you've been acting like a married couple since you first moved in together."

The younger man's familiar smile immediately etched across his lips, as he realised that they had been acting like a married couple since he got back too. "Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I got so worked up about it. I guess when I think of marriage, I just think of the traditional church wedding. It's more of a tradition for straight couples, women mostly. In the movies it's always the women that go crazy about the details of their wedding. Weddings just don't get me excited."

"That's the whole point in those movies, Greg. It's not funny unless someone's going crazy about the details." She pointed out to him, glancing over her glasses at the man. "Just tell Nick that it isn't something that you want. But you never know, maybe a wedding ring on his finger will make him think twice before he runs off again."

"He didn't..." He sighed heavily, sick of trying to defend the man. "I should go." He raised his wrist to look at the time, realising how late it was.

"You keep doing that." Catherine removed her glasses again, making an observation of his behaviour. "Whenever I say anything about Nick, that involves his not so recent departure or the fact that he left you with child, you go and change the subject. Why are you still protecting him? Do you even know where he's been for the past three years? Do you know if he's clean?"

"Trust me; I know all I need to." He grabbed his jacket and keys, making his way towards the door. "I love him, that's all that matters to me. That and we have a son together. Maybe that's a good enough reason to marry him."

"Don't make it the only reason." She called after him, quickly climbing to her feet as the man hurried out into the hallway. "Greg." Combing her fingers back through her hair, she approached him at the front desk, warning him, "Marriages because of children don't last. Staying married to someone because of a child doesn't work either. Saying he's caring and a good person doesn't get you through twenty years of crap that you have to put up with, before your son is really out of the house."

"But I love him. I have hundreds of different reasons why I want to spend the rest of my life with him, what's so bad about marrying him?" He asked her, pulling his jacket on ready to leave. "There was a time that you defend, Nick. You even helped him out when he was framed for a murder, even though you could lost your job."

"Because I knew he was innocent."

"He's innocent of the charges that you're putting him on right now." Greg informed her, without actually telling her the reason why the man was innocent. "The fact is, I love him and we have a baby together. We're going house hunting, talking about having another baby... to me, that sounds like we're in it for the long run. Not just sticking it out until Colt's out of the house."

"I don't want you to get hurt." Catherine folded her arms across her chest, realising that Sara was right when she called her the maternal one of the lab. "This is what the older generation do, we try to warn you of the mistakes that we've already made. So hear me out for a second, okay?"

"You sound like my mother." He rolled his eyes at her, reluctantly staying for a moment to hear what she had to stay.

"I got married on a whim. I didn't want to be lonely anymore, then we had a baby together, and I couldn't get out of it. We got married, not knowing what each of us were looking for in our lives. We didn't look to the future, because we didn't think that we had one."

"That's where we're different." Greg searched for his keys in his pocket, informing her, "Nick and I do know each other and we know what we want. We both want the same things, so why can't we have a future together?"

"Greg, not ten minutes ago you were fretting about marrying the man."

"I wasn't fretting." He shook his head, backing himself up towards the elevator doors. "I was just asking you what it's like to be married. "I'll marry Nick because it's something that he wants, but spending the rest of my life with him is something that I want." He gave her a wide smile, wondering why he had been so terrified of the future before.

He made his way straight home to his family, hoping to catch them before they went to sleep. As he stepped through the front door into the dark and quiet apartment though, he realised that it was too late. Colt was already tucked up in his bed with his teddy bear under his arm, while Nick was fast asleep across the hall.

Greg reluctantly got himself ready for bed too, crawling under the covers with Nick. He draped the older man's arm around his waist, trying to imagine what it would be like to marry him. He couldn't imagine them having a church wedding or standing in front of Elvis to do it, but he definitely wanted to be married to him. It wouldn't be that different from how they were now, but he'd feel as though Nick was really here to stay for the rest of his life if they went through it.

"Nicky." He whispered his name, just to check if he was asleep. He waited a moment for a sign, but the older man remained fast asleep beside him. Leaning up on his elbows, Greg kissed the man on the chin, whispering, "I do."

He knew that he couldn't hear him, but it brought a smile to the younger man's lips as he dozed off to sleep beside his future husband. He suddenly felt a sense of security now that he had a partner set for life. A security that he had never had before, besides his parents when he was little, but that was different.

When he woke up the next morning, he felt his partner's warm breath on his neck. He lay completely still in his arms for a moment, enjoying the comforting embrace that he had missed so much.

He gave out a soft giggle as the older man playfully nipped at his neck, sending shivers down his spine. "Mmmm, that feels good."

Nick pulled the younger man closer against him, so that his chest was pressed against his partner's back. He felt their hearts beating together, sending familiar tingles in the direction of his stomach. "Mornin'." He whispered against the beautiful man's neck, wanting to stay like this forever.

Greg tilted his head back, greeting the man he adored with a wide smile. "You're still here then?"

"Still here." Nodding, Nick smoothed his hand across his bed mate's stomach, asking, "How was work?"

"Uneventful." Snuggling closer against his bed mate's warm body, Greg purred, "Mmmm, you smell so good in the morning. Like Christmas. There's another reason to marry you."

Nick gave him a curious look, asking, "You mean you have reasons why you don't want to marry me?"

"One or two." Greg nodded, turning his head slightly to face him. "You fart in your sleep for starters."

"Do I?"

"Like a camel. And it got me thinking, do I really want to put up with that for the rest of my life? Twenty or thirty years from now, do I want my bed sheets to smell of... really bad spicy curry?" He teased him, bursting into giggles as he saw the older man's pouting lip. "C'mon, I'm kidding. I love you too much to let a little gas get between us."

Nick rolled his eyes at him. "I think I'll put your jokes down as a con on my list."

"You'd miss em if I stopped."

"I did miss them." The older man rested against his elbow, looking into his partner's eyes. "Do you really have any reason why you wouldn't want to marry me?"

"Nope." He answered without any hesitation. "I thought I did, because I was scared of the thought of declaring my love for you in a public place. And I didn't really understand why you wanted to change things between us, but when I came home to you and climbed into your arms. I realised that there was no other place I'd rather be for the rest of my life. I felt safe knowing you were always going to be there. It made me realise that marriage isn't just a traditional thing for you; it gives you a sense of security. Well I feel it to, so if the proposal is still valid, if it was even a proposal. It was over two weeks ago now, and it wasn't exactly on the romantic side. I can't even remember what we were talking about that made you decide to propose to me."

"I didn't exactly propose." Nick smiled at him, gazing lovingly into the younger man's confused eyes. "It was just a suggestion."

"In that case, forget I ever said anything and we'll brush it under the carpet." Greg made a move towards the edge of the bed, getting pulled back into the arms of the man behind him. "Nicky," He whined, even though the man was kissing his neck. "I'm sorry I got it wrong, but you don't need to do this."

"You didn't get it wrong." He assured him, combing his fingers through the younger man's hair. "I do want to marry you."

"Then where's my real proposal?" Greg smiled over his shoulder at him. "I thought I was dating a sentimental Texas boy. Not the guy who buys cheap flowers at the truck stop."

"Hey, I've never done that." He objected, looking into his partner's eyes. "Once, but it was a very rare occasion. I had just worked a triple shift and we had an argument."

"The ones I threw at you?" He looked at him surprised. "They were really nice."

"Shoulda been, they cost me a fortune. I bought three bunches and put em all together for you." He gave him a smile, brushing his fingertip down the younger man's cheek. "Is that what you want then, a real proposal?"

"Yeah." Greg felt embarrassed to say it, but he really did. "I know I'm never usually one for tradition, but I want a real proposal from my sentimental cowboy. Is that so wrong? Do I not deserve one because of our relationship?"

"You know that's not it." Nick put his arms around Greg's warm body, holding him securely against his side. "I'll give you a real proposal." He whispered against his hairline, gently putting his finger to Greg's lips as he was about to ask him a question. "When the time is right. Just give me some time. I'll even get you a ring if you want."

"Yes." He giggled, feeling his excitement bubbling to the surface. "Nothing too fancy though. I don't want a diamond or any kind of girly jewel on it. I've never worn a ring in my life, so nothing too big either. I don't think I'd like a gold band either, maybe a silver one, along as it's not too bright. Titanium might be better."

"How about I propose to you with a ring catalogue?" Nick smirked, getting playfully poked in the side. "That way you can pick what you want, and I won't get it wrong."

"No, I want you to pick something for me. It won't mean anything to me if I pick it. It's more personal and has a sentimental value to me if the man I'm going to marry picks it. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll do fine." Greg gave him a reassuring smile. "Surprise me. You know I like surprises."

"Okay." Nick sealed a kiss over his lips, already thinking of some ideas. "When we do get married, full disclosure on everythin'." He promised him, placing his hand on the younger man's stomach. "I don't want us to turn out like my folks. They barely talk to each other anymore. I never want us to be like that."

"Full disclosure?" Greg sucked in a sharp breath, wondering if he should tell Nick everything too. "Starting now?"

"What? I know that look." Nick gave him a curious look. "What haven't you told me?"

"A few things... to protect you." He promised him. "I'm no saint, Nick, you know that. I've told you a few little white lies in our time. At least I don't keep things like cancer from you." Greg quickly pointed out to him, stopping him from judging him too quickly. "Number one, I used to have a crush on Warrick." He broke the easiest secret to him first. "I was dating you at the time. And I felt really guilty about it, but he had been mentoring me a lot... and I kept having these thoughts of what it would be like to..."

"Stop, no more." Nick smiled at the man beside him. "That's not a secret. I thought you had a crush on him, but I never knew for sure. Just as long as it only got as far as a school boy crush." He gave him a stern look.

"Cross my heart." Greg crossed his heart, moving onto the next little secret. "Now, number two. Do you remember when you invited me to that conference in New York that Grissom forced you to go to? And I told you that I couldn't go with you, because my mother was sick and my father was out of town, so I had to go over there to take care of her."

"You mean you didn't?" His partner gave him a suspicious look.

"No, my mother wasn't really sick. I stayed here in Las Vegas, just in my apartment so no one would see me. A few days before you invited me to go with you, I got a call from one of my ex's. He was doing the call of shame to his previous partner's. He had been tested positive for Chlamydia. I didn't go with you, because I was getting myself tested... while worrying that I had passed it onto you. I was negative for everything, but I still managed to work myself up."

Adjusting himself against his partner's side, Nick asked him, "If you had tested positive, would you have told me?"

"Yes." Greg assured him, receiving the third degree from the man. "I swear I would have told you if I was positive, but I wasn't, so I didn't have to say anything. I was always careful before you. I've never had sex without protection, except with you. I was just worried. We had only just started dating then. I thought something like an STD would turn you right off me." He tried to defend himself.

"If you really think that, then you're not as smart as I thought you were." Nick rolled his eyes at him. "I've had STD's in the past, do you really think I'd just dump you right on the spot because your ex infected you?"

Greg smiled, realising how stupid he had been. "No, I guess not. But I didn't know that then. I didn't even know that I loved you as much as I do now."

"C'mon then, lay another one on me." Nick prepared himself to hear another secret, wondering how much worse they got. "Don't be so nervous, you can tell me anythin'."

"Okay." Slipping lower on the bed, Greg rested his arms against the pillow above him, preparing himself to tell him a more painful secret this time. "When the doctors finally figured out that I was pregnant, the first thought that ran through my head was..." He anxiously looked over his shoulder, as if to check that his son wasn't there. "I wanted to get rid of it." He admitted, waiting for the reaction on Nick's face. "I only thought it for a little while and I never told anybody, but I still thought it."

Instead of saying anything to comfort him, Nick just placed his hand on the younger man's stomach, trying to think of something to say to him.

"The first time I saw him on one of those ultra sound things though," Greg continued, "I fell completely in love with him and those thoughts went away completely. Well, I didn't know he was a him then, but I fell in love with our baby. I still feel really guilty about thinking it. I feel it every time I look at him, knowing I could have ended his life."

"You're allowed to have thoughts like that. Your whole life was about to change. It's natural." He whispered to him, giving him a reassuring smile. "I have a little truth of my own to tell you, about the baby thing. Not our baby. When I was seventeen though, my girlfriend at the time had a pregnancy scare. She couldn't get her hands on a pregnancy test, because her parents never let them have any money or anythin' like that. She started frettin' and freakin' out, sayin' it was all my fault and our lives were ruined. The second she told me, I wished that it would just go away. I didn't want a baby then. It would have ruined my whole life and my folks would have probably kicked me out."

"What happened?" Greg suddenly felt as though his secrets were of little value compared to this.

"My older sister, Gwen still lived at home. I found a pregnancy test in her room. I can't remember why I was in there, but I just spotted it on the desk. I took it to my girlfriend to get her to take it, but it was negative." He rested against his elbow beside Greg's head, looking down into his eyes. "We never talked to each other again after that. Before we found out that it was negative, I told her that she had to get rid of it. That she couldn't tell anybody about it, especially our folks. I was really horrible to her about it."

"You were still just a kid, it's understandable." Greg leant up on his elbows, pressing a kiss to the man's lips. "You wanted Colt though, didn't you? I know you didn't have much choice..."

"I've grown up a lot since then, Greg. I think ever since I left college, I've wanted a child of my own. My brother and sisters all had kids of their own then, and I wanted them too. It was a long wait, but it was well worth it. I wouldn't have wanted kids with anyone else but you, G. I've never seen a future with anyone else but you."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." The younger man smiled at him, turning to a more serious note as he had one more secret to tell. "I haven't exactly been completely loyal to you... over the past three years I mean. I didn't have time to date when Colt was born, and I didn't exactly feel datable during the pregnancy. The day you walked out on me, you left a huge hole. I tried to fill it, but no one even compares to you. I never slept with anyone. I came close in the gents in some club, but he wasn't so interested in me after I threw up over his silk shirt."

Nick gave him a smile, masking his guilt. Greg had told him not to take anymore guilt onto his shoulders, but he couldn't help it this time. "Greg, you don't need to feel guilty about that. I realise that what I did to you was the worst thing that I could ever do."

"You could hit me to top it."

Nick burst into a smile, rolling his eyes at Greg. "I'm not goin' to hit you."

"I won't tell anyone."

"I don't care if you do; I'm not goin' to do it." He tickled the man's sides, adoring him even more than he had before. "I know it's goin' to take you a while to forgive me and move on with the rest of our lives, but I think that you should start by forgivin' yourself. Nothin' you did made me go. Nothin' you could have done would have made me stay. And anythin' that you did while I was gone, wasn't your fault."

"One more thing."

"Oh no, please Greg." Nick placed his hand over his heart. "I don't think I can take anymore of this."

"Just one more." Greg leant up on his elbow, licking his lips a moment as he tried to think of the right way to break it to him. "One of the guys that I met, he was working at the station at the time. We... we dated for a little while. Meals, movies... a few short make out sessions."

"Who?" Nick felt goose bumps shivering their way down his arms, as he feared that he might know them. "C'mon, I'm not gonna go psycho and warn him to stay away from you. Who is he?"

"No one you know." Greg took the usual defence.

"So what's his name?"

"Bryan." The younger man spoke softly, avoiding direct eye contact with Nick as soon as he said the other man's name. "It was never serious. We dated for about a week and a half, before he left for Atlanta. He had a job offer out there. I should have been used to men walking out on me by then. I didn't really like him that much, he was just a nice change from... all the others. You know, I closed my eyes with him the whole time. I was thinking of you. He was a terrible kisser, so it was a bit of a stretch. He did have an accent though. He's a country guy, can't remember where from.. Not Texas like you. I seem to have a thing for guys for with accents. The raspier the sexier."

"Thanks for makin' me feel better." The Texan smiled at him, putting his arms around Greg again. "You really don't need to worry. It doesn't change how I feel about you. It doesn't change anythin'. I'm glad you told me." He brushed his thumb across Greg's lips, as if he was wiping away the memory of the previous man. "I love you."

"I love you too." Greg responded, leaning up on his elbows for a deeper kiss this time. "And the ring doesn't have to be anything special, Nick. If you even want to get me one. I can survive without one. When we get married, we'll both have rings, won't we?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded, lifting the younger man's hand from his side. "If you want to do the exchange of vows, rings..."

"Definitely." He whispered, smiling widely as Nick brushed his thumb across his finger, where the wedding ring would be. "I'm nervous already. Should I get you an engagement ring too?"

"No."

"Why, because I'm the bitch of the relationship?"

"No." Nick responded with a smile. "You can get me a ring if you want, but I don't need one. Besides, I proposed. It's tradition for the one who proposed to give the ring to their partner." He pointed out to him, before he pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Now do you think you can decide what you want for breakfast?" He asked, gently smoothing his hand across his partner's stomach.

"We don't have to get up right away, do we? Colt's not even awake yet." He turned in Nick's arms, lying on his back beneath him. "When have we ever had a free morning like this to ourselves, since Colt I mean?" He grinned as the Texan immediately brought their mouths together for a romantic kiss. "Mmm... I've missed this."

"Our mornin' quickies after a long night at the lab?" Nick remembered those mornings all too well. He thought that the memory of them would at least give him a twinge below the belt, but there was still nothing. He moved himself to straddle the younger man's hips, hoping that would help, but it only made him feel even more inferior to the man beneath him.

Greg however welcomed the weight of the man on top of him. He circled his arms around the man's warm body, asking him, "Are you okay?"

"I wish you wouldn't always ask me that." He sealed his lips over the younger man's, kissing him deeply for a moment. He raised Greg's leg against his hip, gazing into his eyes as he felt his partner's groin hardening against him. He felt a familiar tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach, but still no action. "You have no idea how hard this is for me. Even if I could get hard, I can't sleep with you, because I could hurt myself or you with the chemo that's still in my system."

"Can I see?" Greg abruptly asked him, "I know I've seen you in the shower, but I never really looked. You're always dressed when you get up, and you wear boxers to bed now. You've seen me naked. My c-section scar, stretch marks, even my huge ass."

"It's not huge." Nick smiled at him, taking the younger man's hand in his own. He guided his hand between them, so Greg could feel the more obvious differences between them. "I feel like I'm crippled against you."

"I'm not expecting you to perform." His partner pointed out to him. "You feel good when you kiss me or hold me, don't you?"

"Yeah. But we can't go on like this forever. Before we know it, I'll be married to a twenty year old stud, but you'll be marryin' a seventy year old cripple. We won't even make it past the first year like this."

"I thought that you knew me better than anybody, Nick, but you really don't. Do you think it really matters to me that you have one less ball in your basket? Or even that you can't get hard. You really haven't changed, have you? Your ego's still as big as ever. I don't need you to do anything, the fact that you're even here at all is the most amazing thing that you've done. If I just wanted sex, I can just use old faithful here." He playfully waved his right hand at the man. "Intimacy, passion and a relationship is all that I want from you right now. Isn't that enough for you?"

"I wasn't sure if I was enough for you." He gently kissed him, feeling his heart fluttering in his chest. "You're enough for me. You're all I've ever wanted."

"So let me see." Greg pleaded, getting a groan out of the older man. He reluctantly rolled over, pulling his boxers down slightly to reveal the scar to his abdomen. Greg had seen the scar at a distance, but never up close. It looked a lot like his own, except it was further off to the side and not as wide. "And the rest." He urged.

"There's nothin' to see." Nick complained, stopping Greg from touching him. "I didn't get the fake one put in after the surgery. I was goin' to, but I changed my mind a few hours before my surgery. I didn't want any more problems down there, so I told them I didn't want it."

"How does it work?" Greg queried, curiously looking at the scar without touching it. "I thought they cut it out down there." He motioned towards the part of the man that was still concealed beneath his boxers.

"You mean you don't know? I thought you knew everythin'." Nick grinned at him, giving out a sigh before he decided to give him a detailed explanation. Of what he remembered anyway. "When they put me under, they made the incision here to clamp the tube or whatever that leads to your... balls. They clamped it, cut it, then pulled it out through the same hole. Much quicker and easier than the other one."

"The ball?" Greg cringed slightly, not wanting to think about it. "They just cut it out?"

Nick gave him a slight nod. "Yeah. They had to cut it away from the skin and stuff first, before they pull it through the same hole. After that, it gets sent to a lab, where they test it and see what type it is I guess. My Doctor told me that I had one tumour in there, and it wasn't overly big, so my chances of survival were pretty good. I had to do the course of chemo as a precaution, as I had cancer before and they were worried I might have them somewhere else."

The younger man cringed again, even though he was still curious to learn more. "What does it feel like?"

"Painful."

"Still?"

"No... now it doesn't feel like anythin'. It's just... hollow." He lay himself back against the bed, watching as his partner curiously studied the scar to his abdomen. "You've been on crime scenes for years now, seeing all kinds of things. Don't tell me that this grosses you out."

"It doesn't." Greg shook his head, sliding closer to the man. "It's just different when it's someone I love. The thought of you going through something like that... especially alone, it's scary. Did you wake up alone?"

"Nope, my doctor was right beside me. I was in a ward. There was another patient with his whole family visitin' him. I got a student nurse the first night I was there. She was really nervous, but she reminded me a little of you. She didn't stop talkin' about her folks the whole time. I wasn't alone, Greg." He assured him, pulling the younger man closer to hold him against his side. "Would you stop worryin' about me? I know it's natural, but you really don't need to worry."

"Will you let me see then? I'm gonna have to see you naked sometime. Or are we going to sleep in separate beds for the rest of our lives too?" He gave Nick a smile as the man put his thumbs beneath his boxers, so he could slide them all the way down this time.

Instead of looking for himself, Nick turned his gaze to the ceiling above him, giving his partner a moment to see what had happened to him. He knew for himself that there wasn't much to see down there, but he couldn't hide it from the man he loved forever.

After a few silent minutes went by, Nick asked, "So, what do you think? Are you gonna write me off?"

Crawling across his partner, Greg joined their lips together for a kiss, continuing where they left off before their deep conversation. He didn't know how much longer they had before their son woke up, but he didn't want to waste another moment of their morning alone together.

That and he felt as though he was about to cry. Knowing the details of a procedure was one thing, seeing it was another.

It made the story more real.

They had six undisturbed minutes together, before their baby started calling out for them. Greg sealed another quick kiss to his partner's lips, reluctantly leaving his side to go and see what was wrong with him.

"Papa?" Colt stumbled into the room, due to his long pyjama bottom legs. His Grandma Stokes had bought them for his last birthday, but he still hadn't grown into them. "Papa?"

"Up bright and early as usual I see." Greg pulled a t-shirt on, before he knelt down in front of his little boy. "Whatsup, Buckaroo?" He saw the tears in his eyes, guessing that he had been crying. "Have you had a bad dream?"

"No, I wet." Colt tugged his pyjama bottoms away from himself, reminding his father that last night was his first night to bed without a diaper. "Papa, I accident."

"I know it was an accident. Let's go clean you up." Greg lifted the child onto his hip, wiping away his tears for him.

"Can I help?" Nick slid himself towards the edge of the bed.

"There's clean sheets on the top shelf. I'll change the bed in a minute." He pointed Nick's attention towards the wardrobe, while he carried their son to the bathroom down the hall. "Maybe it was a little too soon for you to sleep without your diaper."

"But I big boy." Colt declared, holding onto his father's shoulder as the man removed his pyjama's for him. He then set him down in the bath tub, so he could give him a quick hose down. "Papa, I sorry."

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. From now on, we'll go without diapers during the day, and we'll put you in diapers at night. At least until you're ready." Greg assured him, grabbing one of the warm fluffy towels. He lifted his son out of the tub, wrapping the towel securely around him. He carried him back down the hall towards his room, surprised to see Nick stripping the bed for him. "I coulda done that."

"I've done it now." Nick collected up the sheets, taking them to the overflowing laundry basket in the hall. "I can't wait to get a real house with a washin' machine in the same building." He handed Greg the clean sheets, while he took their son off Greg's hands to get him dressed. "I still can't believe this buildin' doesn't even have a laundry room. Practically everybody livin' here has a child. Kids get through loads of clothes."

"Okay, you made your point." Greg smiled at him. "I already said I'd move wherever you want to."

Nick returned the smile, before he set Colt on the carpet to get him dressed. He found him some jeans and a t-shirt, before he crawled back towards him on his knees. "Why are you jigglin'? Are you cold?"

Colt shook his head, "I desperate."

"Well if you're desperate, why didn't you say anythin'?" His father lifted him into his arms, taking him down the hall to use the potty. "You have to tell us if you need to go. We're not psychic."

"What psychic?" He gave him a curious look.

Nick sat him on the potty, explaining, "We can't tell if you need to go unless you tell us. It's your body; you're the one who can tell when you need to go. So you have to speak up."

"I sorry."

"I didn't mean it like that." He suddenly felt like a bad father as he saw the big puppy dog eyes in front of him. "It took me a while to learn how to use the potty too, so I'm not blamin' you. You just have to tell us if you need to go. Don't wait until you're desperate, that's how you have accidents." He realised that he had lost his son's attention, as the three year old had made his way over to the steps by the sink, so he could wash his hands. "Good boy." Nick pressed a kiss to the top of his little boy's head.

Colt hurried back down the hall to his room, diving onto his freshly made bed. He giggled and squirmed as his father Greg gave him a playful tickle, before he lifted him off the bed to remake it.

"You're a little monster."

"I no monster." Colt shook his head, making his way round the other side of the bed, so Nick could finish dressing him. "Daddy, we go new house day?"

"Yes, we're goin' to look at lots of new houses today." Nick nodded to him, fastening his son's jeans into place around his little waist. "Are you gonna help us pick?"

"Yeah. I want big room." Colt declared, wriggling in Nick's arms as he tried to put his socks on for him. "I no share with you." He looked up at Nick behind him. "You, Papa share."

"Oh okay, so you get a big room all to yourself, while Daddy and me are stuck in a cupboard." Greg joked, taking a seat in front of them. "That's doesn't sound very fair does it? We're bigger than you."

"I grow." Colt jumped to his feet, with only one of his socks on. "I grow bigger den you." He climbed onto Nick's leg, standing taller than the two of them while they were sitting down. "When Nana come?"

"Nana isn't coming today. She's busy." Greg swept his son into his arms, holding him still so Nick could put his second sock on for him. "She wants us to email her the pictures tonight, so we have to take lots and lots." He tickled the child's sides, electing a giggle from his throat.

"Papa, no." The toddler pushed his hands away from him. "I no want."

"Sorry." Greg pressed a kiss to the top of his head, smiling at Nick in front of him as it was their first perfect morning together as a family. "C'mon then, let's go get breakfast started while Daddy gets dressed." He pressed a kiss to Nick's cheek as he swept their child into his arms. "I put your clean t-shirts on the shelf above mine."

"Thank you." Nick returned the kiss, before he struggled to his feet. He picked up Colt's toys that he had left on the floor last night, feeling as though he was finally where he belonged. Ever since he had moved here to Las Vegas, he hadn't felt as though he belonged anywhere. He never thought that he belonged with Greg when they dating before, which was why he felt free to leave him at anytime.

Now he really did belong though. Maybe not in this particular apartment, but he had a family around him now that loved and needed him around.

(END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN)

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews so far. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter, please let me know what you thought.**

**Hope you have a great weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen:**

Wandering into another empty room, Colt looked up at the window, before he turned towards the large built in wardrobe that covered the wall. He hurried over to them as he heard footsteps, quickly tugging the door open to hide inside. Unfortunately there was a mirror on the opposite wall, so his father had seen the whole thing. He shrieked in excitement, giggling and squirming as his father lifted him out of the wardrobe into his arms.

"Papa, I this one." He declared, pointing to the room.

"You can't have this one. It's on the third floor. It's too far for you to walk everyday just to get downstairs." Greg carried him out into the hall, not too keen on this particular house. The bedrooms were large, but the family room, bathroom and kitchen were really small and cramped. It did have three floors, but the space was very restricted and didn't exactly have a much of a garden either.

"Plumbin' needs some work." Nick joined them on the top floor. "Stairs are creaky too. We'd have to put safety gates on all of them."

"There's like four sets though." Greg pointed out to him. "We'd need one at the bottom and one at the top of each set. Eight gates altogether. You know those things don't come cheap."

"Not this one then." Nick decided, turning on the stairs to take them down again. The third floor was the most spacious, with only one bedroom and a bathroom up there. The second floor had two bedrooms on the right side, with a set of stairs between them, leading to the kitchen. On the left side was a bathroom that didn't contain a bath and a guest bedroom that had its own bathroom, without a toilet, so it wasn't of much use.

"I like this." Greg pointed to the largest bedroom, that had windows covering two sides of the room.

"Not so good for us night shifters." Nick thought out loud, taking a look for himself. "It's about the same size as your room back at the apartment. It just has more light."

"Spoil sport." Greg poked him in the side, before he took the stairs at the end of the hall. They led him straight into the front room, that he really didn't like. The back door to the garden was on one side of the room, while the front door to the driveway was on the other. There wasn't much room for a television or a sofa either, so there really wasn't much point in the room.

"So, what do we think?" Anna, their realtor caught up with them, taking their expressions as a no. "Are you sure? It's really close to some great schools." The woman was slightly older than them, with greying roots, indicating that she had been doing this job for a long time. She wasn't very convincing though, as the nearest school was nearly two miles away.

"No, I think we'll pass." Greg set his toddler on the ground, letting him explore the kitchen. Large marble counters stood either side of the narrowed room, with a large island in the middle that had a built in cooker and dish washer. "Mind your fingers." He followed him into the room, stopping him from shutting his fingers in the drawers.

"I careful." Colt insisted, trying to open the drawer again. "What dat?"

"You put knives and forks in each of the compartments. Your Daddy used to have one of those. We just throw them all in a drawer though, because it's easier and less time consuming." He smiled round at his partner, receiving a glare in response. "Do you have any places on your list with nice kitchens?" He asked the woman.

"Sure, I have one just down the road from here. The kitchen has only just been done. The couple had to move out because they're expecting another baby." Anna searched for the details in her briefcase, fully aware that Nick was giving her a judgemental look as though he didn't have any confidence in her to help them.

"Why'd they have to move? Is it a studio apartment or something?" Greg asked, leading Colt back into the front room.

"No, they already had six children. It's only a four bedroom house. With their seventh on the way, they had to move." Anna smiled as she found the details. "Here we go. Still on the market and right in your price range. They've been struggling to sell this one for a while."

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Nick took a look at the pictures she had.

"Well, it's the neighbourhood that lets it down. There's a lot of families on the street, all with troublesome teens. And families with young children don't usually go for a house that has a pool in the back garden. That's why I didn't offer it to you in the first place, but if you'd like to take a look..."

"Yep." Greg answered, after spotting the picture of the kitchen. "It looks like one of those show room houses."

"The furniture doesn't come with, I'm afraid." Anna spoke softly, taking the pictures back off Nick's hands. "It's just a short drive. I'll lead the way."

"I bet that this place looks nothin' like the pictures." Nick warned his partner, lifting his son into his arms to take him to the car. "I told you we shoulda gone for the more expensive realtor. I met him on a crime scene a few years ago, so he might have given us a good deal. I did clear his name after all."

"No thank you. I don't want to live in a house that was sold to us by a guy who may have still murdered his client. You never did find out who did it, so it doesn't really clear his name." Greg pointed out to him, opening the door for his partner. "So, four bedrooms. You and me in one, Colt in another... you planning on having two more children with me?"

"Or one more and the last one can be a guest bedroom." His partner put his mind at ease, while he loaded their toddler into the car. "We'll need a new car after this."

"This stuff costs money you know, Nicky. Money that you're not currently earning." Greg playfully ruffled his hand through the man's hair. "How about we just take this stuff one step a time? Preferably before I go running for the hills. One more mention of a future baby and all this other stuff... I swear I'm gonna go out of my mind." He leant against the car beside Nick, while he looked up at the large house in front of them. "I really want a new house with you. I know that. A baby in the distant future sounds pretty good too, even marriage sounds good."

"You realise we'll have to have a weddin' before that happens."

"That's something I'm a little unsure of. Weddings cost money for one thing. Houses are probably less than a wedding and cars are even worse. But weddings seem like a waste of money. It's just one day, not even a whole day." He turned to look at his partner beside him, explaining, "If we have the usual wedding ceremony with all the cake, flowers, superficial wedding guests... it won't feel real."

"We don't have to have all that." Nick pointed out to him, glad that Greg finally told him how he really felt about it. "We can make it our own. It's meant to be a special day, because it'll be what we'll remember for the rest of our lives. I agree that we don't have to pay a bucket load on it, but it has to be special." Closing the back door, Nick climbed to his feet, folding his arms across his chest as he looked the younger man in the eye. "I asked Catherine about the supervisor position at the lab."

"What?" He wasn't sure that he heard him right.

"I know we said that I'd have to wait a while before I get back into the swing of things, but the assistant supervisor is runnin' things at the moment. I can go in a couple of days a week, strictly desk bound while they're trainin' the new recruits. No field work." He assured him. "They need somebody to run the lab. I'll be doin' paper work half the time, meetings, court appearances... I could even take Ecklie's old job. I could start makin' some real changes at the lab."

"Did Catherine say that?"

"No, it was just a thought. I want to be able to give you and our children everythin' you deserve. I know you said I don't have to, but I feel like I should." He opened the door for his partner, giving him a warm smile. "You're mine now. You've had my baby grow inside of you. I can't carry yours, so I have to do somethin' else to help out round here."

"I want you to. I really do, but why the crime lab?" Greg asked him. "Please, get a job raising kittens if you really want to help out."

Nick chuckled softly, shaking his head at him. "I don't know the first thing about kittens. This is what I trained for, and it's what I'm good at."

"Then go back to school. You have so much potential to do something amazing with your life. You said it yourself, you were forced into this career by your folks. You told me you hate science too, so what's the point in getting yourself stuck in a forensic science job?"

"Because I do enjoy it... sometimes." Nick had never even thought of taking up another career, he didn't even know what he could do. He didn't think that he was good at anything else. "How come you're allowed to do it then?"

"Because I trained my whole life for this. No one forced me into it. This is what I've always wanted. I just want you to be happy. And safe." He added, leaning back against the door. "You've already put me through enough. I want to wake up beside you for the rest of my life, not worrying that I'm going to lose you on a shift. If it bothers you that much, I'd quit my job. The only thing that really matters to me is you. And Colt." He added, having to remind himself that he was a father again.

"Okay, I haven't got the job, I was just thinkin' about it." Nick pointed out to him, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. "You'd really quit your job for me?"

"Yeah, I want you more than anything in the world. And Colt." He smiled at him, beginning to feel like a terrible father for putting his child second, but he had been putting his baby first for the past three years of his life. "I don't want to lose you, Nick." He took a step closer, pulling the man closer against him by his belt loops. "I've seen what my life would be like without you, and I didn't like it."

Placing his hand on the younger man's head, Nick pulled him close against his chest, realising that he was about to cry. "I can't promise you anythin', but I'm not goin' anywhere of my own free will." He pressed a kiss to the top of his head, feeling the watchful eyes of the neighbours looking their way. "You know, maybe we should look into gay friendly neighbourhoods, before we look at any more houses."

Looking round as the realtor impatiently honked her car horn; Greg wiped his eyes, reluctantly pulling away from his partner's chest. "There's another thing we have to worry about. Maybe we should both give up our jobs and just move away to live in a bubble somewhere."

"Bubbles always burst." Nick pointed out to him, holding the door open wider for him. "C'mon, let's go take a look at this house. See if this really is your dream house."

Greg gave him a smile as he climbed into the car. He waited for Nick to climb into the passenger seat, before he followed the realtor's car to the next house. They had already looked at three houses so far, and it was only half eleven in the morning, but they still hadn't found one that they liked.

The fourth house looked a lot nicer than the last three, but as they had already learnt, looks can be deceiving. Once they were out of the car, Colt was the first up the driveway, making his way through the open back gate that led to the garden.

Nick quickly hurried after him, kneeling down beside him as the child approached the empty swimming pool. He wrapped his arms around his son's chest, keeping him protected in his embrace. "It's a big swimmin' pool, isn't it?"

"Nana's bigger." Colt made an observation of the pool, before he pointed towards the wired fence at the end of the garden. "Doggy."

"Yeah, he's a big dog." Nick agreed, lifting his son into his arms. He was worried that the large dog could easily jump the fence and come straight for them. It looked a lot like a fighting dog, especially as its jaws continued to snap shut with each vicious bark. "Let's go look inside the house." He suggested, making his way back through the gate, towards the front door.

The realtor was already inside, showing Greg the real kitchen that he had just seen pictures of. It did look like the picture, but the fridge, oven, dishwasher and washing machine had all been ripped out, leaving gaping holes in the room. The house didn't look as though it had been cleaned since the last owners were there either, as there was a thick layer of dust against the wall, where the fridge used to be.

"Obviously once you have your own fridge and things in here, it'll look more homely." Anna tried to sell the younger man on the house, guessing he would be the easier of the two to convince.

"We don't have our own fridge and things." Greg smoothed his hand across the white marble counter, before he turned to look at Nick in the doorway. "What do you think?"

"Fridges cost money." Nick reflected what the younger man had said earlier. "It's nice though." He agreed, adjusting his child against his hip. "Where's the sink?" He noticed that a counter against the opposite wall had a large hole in it, with a pipe sticking out of it.

"I think it had to be replaced. Shouldn't cost you too much to put a new one in." Anna turned Greg's attention towards the screen doors. "Perfect view of the garden from here. You can keep an eye on your little one in the garden, while you're making something in here. The ceiling fan is perfect in this heat too. Brand new too. They ripped out the old one before they moved out and replaced it with this." She pushed the switch on the wall to show them that it worked. She was a little worried about the older man's sceptical look, so she had to prove that something in this place worked.

"Dat fast." Colt pointed towards it, watching the blades of the fan in amazement. "Daddy, look."

"I see it." Nick nodded, turning towards the rest of the house. He took a look round the front room, preferring the size of this one to the others, but the paint work was peeling away from the walls. He noticed a few dents in the walls too, realising they'd have to re-plaster it all, before they could paint it the colour that they wanted it.

"Daddy, what dat?" Colt pointed towards the end of the room.

"It's a book shelf. Or DVD shelf." He shrugged, walking closer so they could take a closer look. "We could put your books on it, rather than havin' them stacked beside your bed." He was glad that Greg was actually reading a variety of different children's books to their son, but he noticed that the books were starting to pile up around his son's room.

"I no sleep here." The toddler protested.

"No, you won't have to sleep down here. We probably won't even get this place." Nick smiled at his son, taking him to the screen door in the front room to look at the view from there. The garden was the perfect size for children to play in, but he was still worried about the pool, among other things. "Let's go take a look upstairs."

"Up der." Colt pointed to the stairs, clinging to his father's shoulder as the man climbed them to the next floor.

As soon as they reached the top, they saw that the landing stretched right to the other side of the house. Nick spotted a bathroom on one side, deciding to take a look in there first, just to make sure that it had everything that they needed. There were his and her sinks against one wall, with a toilet and bath tub on the opposite. He took another step inside, noticing a walk in shower, hidden away behind a tiled wall.

"What dat?"

"It's the shower." Nick turned on the light beside him, giving his son a better look at the shower. He pushed a button on the wall outside of the shower, smiling as the water immediately started pouring down. "At least that works. It's warm too."

"Dat good?"

"That's very good." His father nodded, pushing the button again to turn it off. He was impressed that it was almost instant, even though the kitchen was a wreck. "Best bathroom we've seen so far." He stepped out into the hall, taking a look in the first bedroom. It wasn't big enough to have a double bed in it, but a child's bed and things would fit in easily.

"Ducks." Colt wriggled in the man's arms, wanting to get down. He made his way over to the wall once he was down, looking at the little ducks on the border. His curious little hands eventually made their way to a light switch that was just within his reach. He pushed the switch up to see what it did, lighting up the room with single light bulb that was hung from the middle of the ceiling. He looked at it a moment, before he pushed the switch down, turning it off.

"No, no, no, darlin'." Nick made his way over to him, as he continued to flip the switch on and off. "You don't want to blow the bulb. Or the house." He pulled him away from the switch, worried about dodgy wiring as he saw a few stray wires hanging from the ceiling.

"Daddy, what dat?" The toddler quickly forgot about the switch, finding something else of interest.

"It's a seat." Nick knelt down by the bay window, lifting the seat to show him that it opened up. "Looks like they left somethin'." He lifted out the shoe box from inside, blowing off the thick layer of dust on top, before he took a look inside. "Photos."

"Why dey leave dem?" Colt took a look for himself, lifting out the first photo to take a look. "Daddy, who dat?"

"Looks like a weddin'." Nick guessed by their attire. "Might be the people that lived here before. They probably didn't mean to leave these behind. They probably just forgot."

"I have it." Colt reached out for the box.

"You can't have it, sweetheart, they're not ours. They're probably missin' these photos." Nick placed them back in the box, before he returned it to where they found it. "Let's go look at the other rooms."

"No, Daddy." He reached for the seat, trying to open it for himself.

"C'mon, let's go see what the other rooms are like." Nick climbed to his feet, trying to draw his son's attention away from the seat.

Colt quickly reached for his father's hand, following him into the next room. It was a little larger than the last one and the walls were painted pink, rather than the duck pattern from the last. The next room didn't have anything on the walls, but there were clear, bright spots of paint on the walls, where paintings or pictures used to hang. The last bedroom was beside the bathroom and the largest of them all. It had a built in wardrobe on one wall, with plenty of room for a king sized bed.

If they had one.

"Do think if we put a fence around the pool, you'd consider this place?" Greg joined them in the bedroom, giving Nick a smile as he turned to face him. "I know there's no sink or anything in the kitchen, but this place is amazing. I can't see us living anywhere else but here for the rest of our lives."

"You see us livin' here?" Nick gave him a surprised look. "It doesn't even have the dream kitchen that you've always wanted."

"No, but it has everything that you wanted. A big garden and plenty of rooms for future children." Taking a few steps closer towards him, Greg asked him, "Can we please have this one?"

"No, Greg." He didn't give into his puppy dog eyes. "We can find some place that has a kitchen and no pool out the back. How many crime scenes have we been to that involved a swimmin' pool and a child? Even if we put a fence around it, there's no guarantee..."

"Spoil sport." Greg interrupted him, giving out a sigh as he turned towards the door. "How about you just look at the houses all by yourself now, so you can decide what's best for all of us?"

"Don't throw a tantrum because things aren't goin' you way." Nick circled his arms around the younger man's waist, pulling him closer that Greg's back was against his chest. "Be realistic Greg, we can't afford to buy this place then install a new kitchen. You've never bought a house before. It's very different from the apartments that you're used to. I looked at dozens of places before I bought my bachelor pad. I had to do a lot of work to it to get it the way it was, and when things didn't go right, I had to pay more money to fix them. You don't have landlords or supervisors in a house. You can't just go to them whenever you have a problem."

"I know that." Greg wriggled out of his arms, hating being lectured like a child. "I really want it though." Even if he was acting like one.

"If it had a kitchen, I'd let you have it, but it doesn't." He pointed out the facts to him. "Houses are expensive enough as it is. We can't just buy the first place we look at, because you have a good feelin' about it. It took me six months to find my place. We've barely been lookin' a week."

"Okay I get, we're not getting it. Can we go before you make me cry?" He lifted his son into his arms, reluctantly carrying him back down the stairs. He hated waiting for anything, especially something like this.

"How many offers has it had?" Nick asked the realtor, even though he had no intention of buying it. As much as he wanted to make Greg happy, he didn't think that bankrupting the two of them was the way to go about it.

"Um... well, you're the third couple that I've had here." Anna looked through her business portfolio, anxiously biting her lower lip as she looked up at the man in front of her. "None of them made an offer, but one of the couples has asked to see it again. It's been on the market for eight months now, so it might be snapped up at any moment."

Nick rolled his eyes at her, as he didn't expect that was going to happen anytime soon. "Has anyone ever... died here?"

"Nicky." Greg hissed at him, taking the man's hand in his own. "We're done now. We're not buying it, just like all the others. It's as though we're just looking for no reason." He childishly stated, leading his family out the front door.

"Mr Stokes, Mr Sanders." Anna collected up her things, hurrying after them out the door.

"There was no need for that, Greg." Nick scolded his partner.

"Just like there was no need for your, 'has anyone died here' question." The younger man released his hand, taking Colt round to the back of their car.

"It's a perfectly reasonable question to ask. If we did consider buyin' it, I'd want to know if someone was hacked to death in the room my child's goin' to be sleepin' in."

"Like it makes any difference." Greg scowled at him. "You don't want it, so it was a stupid question."

Nick couldn't help but smile, having missed Greg's temper tantrums while he was away. "I'll get you a house, Greg. A much better one than this. You've just gotta have a little faith in me, baby." He gave him a smile as he took a step closer. "C'mon, you deserve a better house than this. I'll get you a house that you deserve one day, Greg; you just have to be patient."

Greg forced a smile at him, before he loaded his son back into the car. "Hope you're not going to be like this when we're planning our wedding."

"I hope you're not goin' to throw a tantrum every time somethin' doesn't go your way." Nick teased him, helping him to his feet. "I want you to have what you want, but I can't risk bankrupting us to give it to you. As you said, I'm not earning at the moment and we have a child to think about. I would love to get you this house, but it's not worth the hassle."

"Whatever keeps you happy." Greg mumbled, climbing into the passenger seat this time. He folded his arms across his chest, looking a lot more like a stroppy teen than a responsible adult.

"I'm doin' this to make you happy." He sat himself in the driver's seat, looking at the younger man beside him. "I know you don't believe me now, but you'll see it eventually. I'm on your side, Greg. All I want is to make you happy, but it's not here . . . so we'll have to find another place."

"Okay." Greg gave out a soft sigh. "I just... I wanted the dream to be real. With you, what we've been talking about... it seems too surreal to be something that we'll really have. The reality is you could be dead soon and I'll be stuck in an apartment with a baby with no hope of a future."

"Greg," Nick reached across the car for his hand, weaving their fingers together. "Our dream, it's not too surreal. We're already livin' it. The house, weddin'... it's all just the icing on the cake. You and me together is the dream. We're livin' it already. And I'm not gonna die. I feel fine." He assured him. "My test results are gonna come back fine, I know it."

"I thought I was the psychic one." Greg smiled at him, leaning across the car to press a kiss to the man's cheek. "It's just... the thing with dreams is that you always end up waking up. Usually right before something amazing is about to happen with the really hot guy on top of you... which is why I'm so worried now. This is what I've always wanted. You back in our lives, and everything is going great right now, which means that something bad is right around the corner from us."

"I hear what you're sayin', but don't you think that we've been through enough already?" He didn't want to remind him of everything that had happened to them in the past, but he wanted to put his mind at rest for him. "If a lab explosion, bein' buried alive, put on trial for murder, beaten up, thrown out of a window, stalked, held at gun point, cancer..." He tried to think of any others, but he thought he covered pretty much all of them. "If none of that can tear us apart, I don't know what can. We can face anythin' that the universe throws at us if we're together."

"What about death?" Greg asked him. "I don't think I could cope if I lost you."

"You're not goin' to. Not for a long time." He tried his best to comfort him. "We'll embarrass Colt at his graduation from Highschool in front of his girlfriend... or boyfriend. We'll be there to watch him bring his first child into the world, get his first job, start college or do whatever he wants to do... we'll both be around for all that stuff. Hey," He gently lifted his chin in his hand, looking into Greg's eyes. "I'm not goin' anywhere. Why would I, I have everythin' I want right here."

"Daddy." His son called out to him from the back of the car. "I hungry."

"Me too, little man." Nick reached for the keys off his partner, suggesting, "Let's go eat before we see the next house with the other realtor. He said he had a few showings before us, so it won't matter if we're a couple of minutes late."

"Okay." Greg agreed, pulling his seatbelt on. "Where are we gonna go, Chucky cheese?"

"No thank you, I have standards." Nick chuckled, starting the car. He pulled away just as Anna came running out of the house, having thought of something else that she had to show them. "Didn't you say that Sara was back today?" He remembered.

"Yep, home after visiting her husband on some cruise ship, that's he's masking as a research ship."

"Is she pregnant yet?" Nick remembered that they had been trying for a baby after Sara left the lab.

"Nope. And she's not planning on trying again. The next option for them is IVF. She's decided to just accept fate and deal with the fact that she can't have children. She didn't seem that broken up about it. I think Grissom was more upset. You know he's always wanted a real child of his own. He had all of us for all those years, now he thinks he's ready to raise his own flesh and blood." Greg glanced over his shoulder, watching their son looking out the window beside him. "I was the only one who never even thought about having my own flesh and blood someday, and I ended up with one. It was always you or Catherine that went on about having kids."

"Catherine hasn't had any more, right?" Nick double checked, receiving a nod from his partner. "Brass?"

"You're kidding, right?" The younger man giggled. "That man's great grandfather material, not a father. Detective Vartann became a granddad though. His son had a little girl two years ago. That young, Julie from Ballistics got married and she's seven months pregnant, expecting her first. She just left on maternity leave." Greg tried to remember anything else that had happened, surprised that he had forgotten about Bobby. "Ooh, and you'll never guess what. Bobby Dawson came out a few months after you left. He married some Doctor Dean Charles last Christmas. He hasn't been back at the lab since."

"Really... Bobby?" Nick looked round at him surprised. "Hodges didn't though... right?"

Greg chuckled softly, shaking his head at him. "Nope, he hasn't changed a bit. Well, maybe a little. He has a thing for Wendy at the moment. They're sorta dating, in Hodges terms. The weirdest thing is that Wendy was asking me about what it's like to have a baby the other day. You don't think she's going to have a baby with him, do you? Can you imagine a baby Hodges?" His body involuntary shivered at the thought. "A baby Wendy would be adorable, but Hodges . . . there are certain people that shouldn't be able to procreate. We should spare the future generation another generation of Hodges."

Nick laughed at his partner, rolling his eyes at him. "You have weird thoughts."

"You know I'm right though." Greg reached through the seats, giving his son's leg a gentle shake. "Hey, don't go to sleep yet, bubba. You'll miss out on lunch. You know you get cranky when you nap before lunch."

Colt rubbed the sleep from his eyes, trying to stay awake.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the nearest Wal-mart, so they could buy some food for lunch. Once the car was parked, Nick lifted him out into his arms, while Greg found them a trolley.

"No, Daddy." Colt clung to his side, not wanting to sit in the child's seat in the trolley. Instead of putting his son down, Nick carried his son in his arms the whole time, not even noticing that he eventually dozed off to sleep against his chest.

When Colt woke up an hour or so later, he found himself in his pushchair, with a blanket draped across him. He removed his fingers from his mouth, looking out at his strange surroundings. They appeared to be in the entrance hall of another empty house, only this one looked a little more homely than the last few. The entrance was painted a dark reddish colour, with a combination of glass and pine doors around them, leading to all the other rooms on the first floor.

Colt looked round as he heard footsteps, spotting his fathers walking out of one room, with another man in toe. The smaller man was dressed in a smart grey suit, with a royal purple tie. He looked a lot more professional than their last realtor, Anna. And he certainly seemed to know what he was talking about too.

"Hey, darlin'." Nick knelt down in front of the push chair, un-strapping the buckles around his chest. He lifted him out into his arms, taking him with him as they made their way into the kitchen. Unlike the last place, this kitchen was fully equipped with a dishwasher, fridge, oven, even a microwave oven that was discreetly hidden away in one of the top cupboards.

"What about a washing machine?" Greg asked the man, getting pointed through a doorway that he didn't even know was there.

He took a step through the doorway, dropping his jaw at the sight of the two rooms that were carefully hidden away. On the left side was a utility room, fully equipped with both a washing machine and a dryer. The realtor showed him that there was a fold away ironing board, a back door that led to a small patio and a few counter tops that included a working sink.

"Last owners used this as a pet's room. I gave the room a good airing, but you can still smell the cat litter a little." He fully disclosed the details to them.

"Wow." The younger man took a step towards back door, looking out at the peaceful little patio outside. "Is that the only garden?"

"Nope, this used to be a conservatory. The last owners decided to open it up." He pointed the man's attention towards a gate in the brick wall. "That leads to the back garden, but there's another door through the second living room."

"Second?" Greg looked round at him surprised. "What are we supposed to do with a second living room?"

The realtor looked round at their son, suggesting, "Playroom?" He led the man through to the right side of the hallway, revealing a small study. A single L shaped desk was sat in one corner of the room, with a swivel chair sat in front of it. Greg took another step into the room, spotting a filing cabinet pressed against the wall, along with a small pine chest of drawers. "Perfect view of the garden." He pointed out the window in front of the desk. "It's not overly big..."

"Ha." Greg interrupted the man. "Understatement of the year." He smirked, looking out at the garden that seemed to stretch for miles. "What's that?" He pointed to another section of the house that he could see out of the window.

"Oh, that's a... well, let me show you." The man led Greg back through the kitchen, taking him to a door they hadn't been in yet. "The last owners used this as a guest house." He unlocked the door, leading the couple inside. "It's not overly big, but it's perfect for when the in laws are in town. There's a fully functioning bathroom here." He opened the door to the left, proving that he wasn't a liar. "It even has its own kitchen, dining area..." He continued through the guest house that was about the size of the apartment they were staying in at the moment.

"This comes with the house?" Greg looked round at him surprised, thinking that this must be some kind of joke.

"Yep, the previous owners had family round all the time. They had this built out of the old garage and found this very handy. Kept the in laws out from under their feet." He showed them the view out the window of the driveway in front of the house. "I know it's not very big, but it has its practical uses. There's enough room in here for a sofa, television... bed." He pointed out the location of where each piece of furniture could go.

"The three of us could live in here alone." Greg pointed out to the man, turning to look at his partner. Nick was taking a look around the kitchen, surprised at how much there was in such a small kitchen. "What do you think, Nicky?"

"It's nice." He nodded, wondering if something like this would make the cost go up.

Sensing he might be losing the interest of a potential buyer, the realtor quickly suggested, "You could even rent this place out. College students are always looking for a little place like this. It won't make the price go up. This place is still well within your price range. Would you like to go upstairs and see the rest of it?" He didn't want to lose their interest this early on in the tour.

"Yes." Greg eagerly answered, reaching out for Nick's hand. "C'mon Nicky, please." He gave the man a pleading look, wanting him to at least consider this place for his sake.

As soon as they climbed the stairs, Nick set down his son, holding his hand so he could take a look around for himself. The landing was almost as wide as the entrance hall downstairs, but a part of it had been sectioned off as a large book case. The realtor led them straight through to the master bedroom, that already had bed side tables and a dresser in it. The bathroom beside that had both a shower and a bathtub, even his and her sinks that were even better than the last house.

While the realtor was explaining the different functions of the bathroom to them, Colt pulled his hand away from Nick, wandering into the next room. He shielded the sun from his eyes as he walked in, surprised at how big the windows were in the room. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the light, before he noticed that there was a bed against one end of the room. It didn't have a mattress or any covers, but there were sliding drawers underneath it.

"Whatcha doin', sweetheart?" Nick appeared behind him, watching him looking around the room in amazement.

"Daddy, I want dis one." Despite the lack of any other furniture, Colt was sold on the idea of having this room all to himself.

"We'll see." Nick slid his hands beneath the toddler's arms, lifting him onto his hip again. He took a look at the room as he turned to leave, impressed with it himself. He thought that a three bedroom, two bathroom house would be a little more disappointing than this, but he had to admit that it was the closest thing to their dream home that they had come across yet.

"Please, please, please..." Greg placed his hands in the prayer position, giving his partner the puppy dog look that he knew he couldn't refuse. "What have we got to lose? Besides the most amazing house that I've ever stepped foot in. We have to put an offer in. Please, we can't lose this. I want this house." He spoke a mile a minute, sounding a lot like an excitable toddler himself. "Please."

Nick took a seat on the low wall outside of their dream house, taking a moment to think.

"Nicky," He panicked as he saw the next couple greeting the realtor at the front door. "Please, we need this. This is the perfect place for us. Give me one good reason why we can't have it. My Mom will even like it, she's gonna love staying in the guest house." He pointed it out in front of him, wanting to take another look inside just to prove to himself that it was real. "Please. Nicky, we can start over here. This is what we need."

"I haven't said no." Nick placed his hands on his knees, looking at their son across the drive. He was collecting up all the white stones from the driveway, placing them in the pocket of his jeans. He seemed to like the large garden out the back and he already had his heart set on one of the rooms, so he'd be breaking his heart too if he didn't agree. "I don't know Greg; do we really need a place this big?" He looked up at it in front of them, wondering what they would do with all the extra rooms.

"Nicky." Greg dropped to his knees in front of him, placing his hands over Nick's. "Would you stop being a grown up for two seconds in your life and follow your dream. This is the perfect family house that you've been going on about. And I really want it." He gave Nick's hands a gentle squeeze, giving him a wide smile. "We can even get married in that court yard thing. We might as well while the flowers are still alive. We've never been able to keep a plant alive."

Nick smiled at him, knowing that was true. "Greg... once we buy this place, you'll be takin' care of everythin'. Bills, food..."

"Blah, blah, blah... save all the boring stuff for later. Let's do the exciting part now and put an offer in. And don't be cheap about it. We want this place." He leant back on his heels as Colt hurried over them, showing them the shell he had found.

"Papa, look." He climbed into the man's arms.

"Wow, look at that. Looks like that shell came all the way from California. There's no beaches around here. Must be a sign that this is the place for us." Greg pressed a kiss to the child's forehead, before he turned his attention back to Nick in front of him. "It's not as though we're buying a big house for no reason. You've always wanted a big family, so this place is perfect."

"Yeah, but you don't, Greg. You only asked if I wanted another baby, because you feel guilty that I missed out on Colt bein' a baby. The big house and big family is my dream. Not yours. You've always wanted a career. You can't have a career and a big family, it doesn't work. You have to have one or the other, but you can't have both." He tried to get him to see it from his side of things. "I can't let you buy this place if you're only buyin' it for me."

"I'm not." Looking at his son in his arms, Greg rested his chin against his little head, assuring Nick, "This is what I want. I love this house. I want us to live here. This isn't just your dream. This is my dream too, I'm just choosing to follow a different dream from the one that I thought of when I was a kid. I'm allowed to change my mind, aren't I?"

The Texan gave him a nod, looking through the kitchen window as he spotted the realtor showing the other couple around. "Okay, we'll put an offer in." He agreed, stopping Greg before he got too excited. "But we don't know that we'll get it for sure, so I don't want you to get your hopes up. After all, it's just a house. It's our family that matters more."

"Agreed, now can we go before he shows them the guest house?" He eagerly climbed to his feet, tugging Nick up with him. "Just think, we'll be calling this our house soon enough." He walked through the front door, with a wide smile on his face.

"I told you not to get your hopes up." Nick grabbed his arm, stopping him from going any further. "Greg, we're in Las Vegas. You should know better than anybody that the odds are seriously against us right now."

"Playing it safe is for boring people in retirement." Greg complained, prying Nick's fingers off his arm. "Who wouldn't want to risk feeling like this? It's better than sex." He put it bluntly, getting a smile out of the man. "Please Nicky; just take this chance with me. Warrick would. Don't you think he'd love a chance like this if he were still alive?"

Nick slowly licked his lips, giving the younger man a nod. "Okay, let's do it. But don't you think we should at least consult your mother first."

(END OF CHAPTER 18)

**Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.**

**Let me know what you think!**

**~ Holly**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen:**

Glancing up as the man in the tanned jacket returned to the room, Nick anxiously bit his lower lip, trying to think positively like his partner had said. He couldn't believe that it had been three months already, but he was relieved that all the waiting time was finally over, so he could finally hear whether he was going to live to see his son grow up or not.

"Okay Nick, we've got your test results back." The man took a seat behind his desk, flipping through his patient's file a moment to make sure that he had all the information that he needed. "Your white blood cell count is up from the last time we tested you. Your scans have come back negative, for now. We're going to keep running checks on you every couple of months." The man clasped his hands together on his desk, only making Nick worry even more. "Your lymph glands in your abdomen are fine. Usually what we find is that they're enlarged, even after radiotherapy or chemotherapy, but yours are normal, so you won't need any further surgery."

"That's good then... it's gone?" Nick's voice croaked as he tried to speak.

Usually he liked his doctor's bluntness towards things, but all he wanted right now was something positive to think about.

"You're in what we call the surveillance period right now. There's still a thirty percent possibility that the cancer will return, most likely within the next two or three years, so we have to keep an eye on you and make sure that everything is okay. With regular checkups, we'll be able to monitor whether it returns."

"But it is gone for now?"

"Yes, all of your tests have come back negative. I am a little worried about your haemoglobin levels in your blood, but anemia is a common side effect of chemotherapy." He broke the news to Nick in the only way he knew how, bluntly. "You may have been feeling a little dizzy, fatigued, feeling short of breath... but it's nothing to worry about."

"What does that mean?" He couldn't quite get his brain to process the information at the moment, making him wish that he had asked Greg to take the day off work to come with him. "Does this mean more tests or..."

"At the moment you have very mild anemia. In a moment I'll get a nurse in here to give you a shot that tells your body to make more red blood cells. It takes around two weeks to start working, so we'll put you on a diet of foods rich with iron. Usually we'd try a blood transfusion, but we don't want to risk you having a reaction after what we've just put your body through. Obviously we'll need to keep a close eye on this, so we'll book another appointment within a few weeks. If your symptoms get worse, you'll need to come in sooner so we can give you a blood transfusion to speed things up." The Doctor explained to him, glancing up from his notes to look at the patient in front of him. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

Nick slowly shook his head, not sure if he should be relieved or scared. He hadn't exactly gotten the positive result that he had been waiting for, but then again, it had only been three months. He still had a few years of this yet, but one clean bill should have been a comfort to him.

"Alright, if we find that the cancer comes back during surveillance, we may need to give you a much higher dose of the chemotherapy, after the removal of the affected lymph glands. But for now, your body has responded well to the treatment." The man climbed to his feet, reaching his hand out for Nick's to shake his hand.

"Wait..." He remembered one question that had been pressing against his mind. "I read that chemotherapy can affect your fertility. My partner and I want to try for another baby."

"It says here that you went for the sperm banking opportunity." The Doctor referred back to his notes. "We usually tell patients to give it around eighteen months before they try for a child naturally, that way your body has had time to recover and the chemotherapy will no longer be in your system, so you can't affect your partner or the baby. But in your case, we would just have to thaw your frozen samples and artificially inseminate your partner. I can give you some numbers of some doctors. But if you would prefer to conceive naturally like most people do, you'll have to wait a while for your sperm count to go up, before you can do so."

Nick nodded, not sure that the artificial insemination option would work with Greg, as he was a little different from the kind of partner that his doctor was talking about.

"I'll go and get the nurse. Try and breathe easy, Mr Stokes, this type of cancer has a ninety five percent survival rate."

"Great, now if I can survive for five years after this and ten years after the prostate cancer, I'll be part of those statistics." Nick remarked, sick of always hearing a percentage at the end of everything. He had already got both types of cancer that affected men, in the wrong order and in such a short space of time. He wasn't expecting to outlive the statistics; he just wanted to live whatever life he had left with the man he adored.

* * *

"Greg, why is your mail being forwarded here?" Catherine dropped the stack of letters on the younger man's desk, giving him a scowl as he glanced up at her. "Business mail only, we don't take personal mail. I just had an earful from the girl down in the mail room about it, when it's not even my mail. She barely looks like she's out of training bras and she has the nerve to give me an earful about the correct protocols of mail." She huffed, returning to her desk across the room.

"Sorry. I'm not planning on living at my apartment much longer, so I already forwarded my mail to here." Greg simply explained, giving her a shrug as he reached for the top letter. "I didn't think it would be a big deal. It's only for a couple more weeks." He slid his finger under the flap, groaning as the first one was a bill.

"And where might I ask are you planning on going?" She looked at him as though she was hurt by the news.

"Remember those few days that I took off a few weeks ago? Well, we were house hunting. I didn't want to say anything, because I wasn't sure. And you haven't exactly been very open about the whole Nick thing. I thought if you knew I was buying a place with him, you'd really go off on one."

"For a good reason too." The woman muttered, giving him a smile as he glared at her. "Sorry, but you were right. At least he's stuck around these last few months, but it doesn't make any difference to me. I don't know why you took him back, especially after what he did, but I'm not going to... go off on one as you put it." She defended herself, pointing towards the door as she spotted a familiar face. "Especially not when he's right outside."

Greg immediately turned his head towards the door, surprised that she was telling the truth. "Um Catherine... could you..."

"Sure." Giving out a frustrated sigh, Catherine grabbed a file from her desk, reluctantly making her way towards the door. "Help yourself to my office." She let Nick in on her way out, giving him an annoyed look as she walked away.

"Is she always that grouchy?" Nick closed the door behind him, making his way over to Greg's desk. "I never remembered her being that grouchy."

"She wouldn't be if you just told her the truth." Greg pointed out to him, climbing to his feet to give his man a hug. He clutched him tightly in his arms a moment, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he ushered him over to his empty seat. "So... c'mon, don't keep me in suspense, how'd it go with Doctor Blunt?"

"Doctor Blake." Nick corrected him, dropping into Greg's swivel chair. He slowly inhaled a deep breath, before he pulled out the prescription from his pocket. "My white blood cell count is up. All my other tests came back negative... but I do have mild anemia. I have to take these with every meal. I have to change my diet to a high iron diet. It's a common side effect of the chemo. I could need a blood transfusion..."

"But the cancer." Greg got him back to the original point, more concerned about the fatal illness than the anemia. "They did all the tests and double checked all the results, right? Your lymph glands, they're not enlarged and there's no lumps..."

"All negative." Nick gave him a slight nod. "I'm clear."

"But that's good." He took a seat on his desk in front of him, giving him a curious look. "That is good though, isn't it? He didn't tell you anything else?"

"No." The man shook his head, looking down at his hands in his lap. "I have to have regular blood tests and scans every three months or so for the next three years. But at the moment, I have one clear result."

"Why aren't you happy then?" He reached for the baseball cap on Nick's head, tilting it back so he could look into the man's eyes. "Are you okay? Did he tell you something else that you're too scared to tell me?"

Nick shook his head, clenching his teeth into his lower lip as he felt as though he was about to cry. He couldn't keep his lip from quivering though and despite his best efforts, tears started to flow from his eyes.

Seeing the familiar signs, Greg immediately slid off his desk, wrapping his arms around Nick's shoulders. He held him close against his chest as the man started to cry against him. "It's okay, baby." He whispered, gently smoothing his hands up and down his back. He knelt down in front of him so he could hold him tighter, bringing on tears of his own as he felt his partner's tears soaking into his shoulder.

Nick knew that he should have been looking at this like a fresh start, but he couldn't help his tears. He had been holding them in since the moment his doctor walked into the room, but he didn't want to let it out until he was with Greg, as he feared he wouldn't be able to stop once he did.

"C'mon baby, this is what we wanted." The younger man eventually pulled back, gently brushing his thumbs beneath his partner's eyes. "A negative result is what we've been waiting for." He slid closer, pressing his lips to Nick's. "I love you. I'm here for you, baby."

Nick gave him a small smile, wiping away the rest of his tears with the backs of his hands. "Stop callin' me, baby. You don't like it."

"I'm coming round to the idea." Greg gently brushed his fingers through Nick's short hair, while he looked into the man's beautiful glazed eyes. "C'mon baby, let's get you home." He helped him to his feet, wiping away the rest of his tears with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. "Catherine will be alright for an hour or so." The younger man grabbed his stack of unopened mail, leading the way towards the door.

Nick followed him into the locker room to get his jacket and keys, feeling better already now that he was with Greg. He held his hand as they made their way down to the parking lot, feeling that sense of relief that he should have been feeling earlier. "I shouldn't have turned you away this mornin'." Nick spoke softly as they approached his car. "You were right, I needed you there. I forgot to ask half the questions I planned on askin' him. I was too busy tryin' to get my head around the idea that it's gone."

"We can get another appointment once you're over the initial shock. We could even go and see another doctor if you want, spare us the torture of Doctor Blunt."

"Blake." Nick smiled at him, climbing into the car. He pulled his seatbelt on, watching his partner anxiously checking his phone, before he climbed into the driver's seat. "What is it?" He queried, pointing to the phone in his hand.

"Doc Robbins has my results. I'll take you home first."

"It's almost twelve." Nick pointed out the time to him. "We might as well pick up Colt on the way. I can take care of him this afternoon. Ali has her exams comin' up soon, so she might like some time off."

"Okay." Greg agreed, handing Nick his stack of mail, so he had his hands free to drive. "But Ali was gonna take him to his doctor's appointment this afternoon."

"I can do that." Nick flipped through the bills and junk mail, spotting one with their realtor's logo on, addressed to both of them. He tore open one side of the envelope, pulling out the letter from inside to unravel it. "Greg..." He read through the first few lines, giving his partner a smile as he looked round at him. "You'll never believe what we've got."

"What?" Greg gave him a curious look.

"We've got the house."

"Really?"

"Yeah, not for another six weeks or so, but we've got the house." He gave him another smile. "The sellers accepted our offer. My sister, Gwen said she'll sort out all the home inspection stuff and all that for us. If all goes well... it's ours."

Greg gave out an excitable giggle, before he reached his arms out for Nick in front of him. He hugged him tightly, relieved to see a smile on the older man's face again. He wanted to see that smile when he got the all clear from the cancer, but at least he got one piece of good news today.

On the way home, they collected Colt from Preschool, getting some lunch together in the apartment. Greg sat his son down in the front room, giving him his sandwich and bite size vegetables, while he sat with Nick in the kitchen, going through the papers for their new house.

"Why do we have to wait six weeks? That's what I don't get. Usually you have to wait a while when there's still people living in the house, but this one is completely empty." Greg complained, checking his phone as he got some more results through from the lab.

"Do you have to get back?" Nick leant against his elbow on the table.

"No, not yet." Greg leant backwards on his seat, checking on Colt in the front room. He was still sat at the coffee table with his plate of food, his eyes focused on the cartoon characters in front of him. "He'll probably take his nap after the doctor's."

"Okay." Nick smiled at his partner, wishing he had seen what he was like with a baby since the beginning. "You know I asked the doctor about the fertility treatment thing. If we wanted to go the insemination route, we could start tryin' for a baby right away."

"Is that something you would want?" Greg asked, knowing Nick always liked to plan ahead for things. He didn't usually like things to be spontaneous. He liked to plan them out so there weren't any surprises along the way, but he was slowly learning to accept that life with Greg wasn't like that.

Nick nodded as he looked at their son in the front room. "Yeah, I can't think of any reason not to have another baby with you. I would love to have another little boy runnin' around the house. Or even a little girl. We could do the whole girly thing."

"You think we could?"

"Yeah, you're great with your cousin, Tyler. I know she's not a girly girl, but I don't think it really matters. You're great with all kids, especially your own. Seein' you with Colt is like seein' you in a whole different world. I've always wanted to have a child. I was scared to become a parent because of how my father was with me when I was a kid. They always say that you take after your parents, and I was afraid that I was goin' to be just like him. My father's approach to parentin' was really different from yours. He used to say that if your kids didn't fear you, they didn't respect you. Don't get me wrong, I do have some good memories of him when I was a kid, but I think I got the worst of it because I'm the youngest of seven. He was already a grandparent when I came along."

"That's no excuse. Every child deserves their parent's full love and attention. It's not your fault that you're the seventh. They should have used protection if they didn't have the time for another child, but I'm glad they didn't, because then I wouldn't have you."

"Aww, thanks honey." Nick smiled at him, leaning across the table to press a kiss to the man's lips. "What I was tryin' to say is that I hope I can be as good as you someday. You're everythin' a parent should be. Everythin' I wonna be."

"You're gonna make me cry if you keep this up." Climbing to his feet, Greg threw his arms around the Texan's shoulders, closing his eyes as he held him tight. "I love you." He took a seat on the man's lap, joining their lips together as he cupped the older man's face in his hands.

"Greg..." Nick smiled against his lips, breaking apart from the intense kiss. "Don't you have to go back to work in a few minutes? You can't have a..." He motioned towards his partner's belt.

"Why not? Doc Robbins has seen plenty of stiff ones in his time." The younger man whispered, getting a laugh out of his partner. "What do you think he'll notice more?"

"Mmmm," Nick broke apart the kiss again, sliding his hands beneath the younger man's arms. He lifted him off his lap, giving him a slight push away from him. "Down boy. There's a baby in the next room and we have an appointment to keep in five minutes."

"Ohh," Greg complained just like his toddler, playfully ruffling his hand through Nick's hair. "You're such a buzz kill." He pressed a kiss to his forehead, whispering, "I'll wait as long as I have to you for you. I love you."

Leaving Nick's side, the younger man made his way into the front room, playfully stealing one of his toddler's carrot sticks. He combed his fingers through his son's tousled hair, sitting down with him for the last few minutes of his lunch break, before he had to get back to work.

On the way back to work, Greg dropped his family off outside of the paediatrician's office, giving Nick explicit instructions on what to ask and where to go. "They have to give him a shot; he won't like it so you'll have to hold him down. He screamed and kicked the doctor the last time, so make sure you do. I don't want him to break the needle."

"Okay." Nick nodded, unloading his son from the car. "C'mon, bud." He lifted him out into his arms, holding him against his chest while he grabbed for the diaper bag.

"Take the car seat." Greg reminded him. "Just text my Mom when you're ready to leave. She's just round the corner at Wal-mart. She wanted to pick up a few things before she came over tonight."

"Okay." Nick unstrapped the car seat, lifting it out the back of his partner's car. He noticed his son was starting to get a little sleepy, but he wouldn't be able to fall asleep now that they were at his doctor's appointment. "I'll see yah later." He waved to Greg, hearing the younger man shout, 'I love you' as he drove away.

"C'mon then, let's find where we have to go," Nick struggled to carry all three items into the building with him, realising what Greg had been doing all this time. As a man, he had never had to carry around a bag before. He could still fit his cell phone, keys and wallet in his jeans pockets, but now he had to carry around a bag of supplies for the baby in his arms, along with the car seat for the next car they rode in.

He could barely manage carrying them around, let alone open a door and sign them in.

"Daddy." Colt felt himself slipping.

"Hang on." Nick set the car seat down on the front desk, dropping the bag inside it, so he could adjust his toddler in his arms. "Um, Colt Stokes to see Doctor Bicknall." He tried to remember the man's name, getting a smile out of the woman behind the desk. She handed him a file to take with him, pointing him over to an elevator that would take him to the doctor's office.

"I carry it." Colt reached for the folder.

"Here you go." Nick handed it to him, making sure he had it, before he picked up the other things. "Hold onto it tight." He took him into the elevator, holding the doors as a young woman wheeled in a pushchair with a sleeping baby girl inside. She was wearing an adorable little summer dress, with a pink flower hat, but no shoes or socks on her little toes. Nick immediately started to wonder what their own baby girl would look like, getting a smile out of the woman as she pushed the button for her floor.

Once they reached their floor, Nick took a seat in the waiting room with his son, dropping the bag first, before he set his son on the floor. He adjusted Colt's t-shirt for him, gently combing his fingers through his hair as it was a little messed up on the top. He realised that he didn't need to be there all the time to care about his flesh and blood the same way that Greg did, he was already affectionate towards his child in the way a father should be.

"You wonna go play." Nick indicated towards the play table in the middle of the room, where the other young children were playing. His son shied away into his embrace though, wanting to be lifted up as Nick sat down. "C'mere," He slid his hands beneath the child's arms, lifting him onto his lap. He wanted to see how his child interacted with the other children, but he didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. "Do you need to go yet?"

Colt shook his head, pointing to a stuffed dog across the room. "I have that."

"You can play with it if you go get it." Nick suggested to him, placing his hands on the toddlers back to stop him from falling off as he looked around the room. "Do you want to go get the doggy?" He brushed away a loose eyelash from his son's cheek, seeing that he clearly did want to get it. He just didn't have the courage. "Go on bud, go get the doggy." He set him on the ground, giving him an encouraging push in the right direction.

Colt hesitantly made his way over to the play table, watching the other children playing with the various toys that were set out. Nick had never really seen him interact with any other children before, so it was interesting for him to finally see how he was.

The nervous toddler walked around the outside of the table, watching a little girl playing with a doll she had in her hands. He eventually lost his courage to play with the other children, and hurried back into the arms of his father, without the doggy that he wanted.

"What happened there, bud?" Nick lifted him onto his leg, realising his toddler wasn't as confident as he thought. "You don't wonna play with them?" He adjusted his son's hoody he was wearing, giving him a smile as he looked round at him. "You wonna read a book?" He took a look on the table beside him, finding some trashy celeb magazines, some pregnancy magazines and a few children's book.

One titled 'How babies are made' didn't seem appropriate, so he selected the more familiar 'Sam I Am' one to read. They made it halfway through the story, before a nurse called their name. She led them down the hall of crying babies, towards an open office door at the end.

"Hello," A doctor in his mid-forties greeted them with a warm smile. "Hi, I'm Doctor Bicknall. You must be, Nick." He assumed, having heard the other father talk so much about his partner. "Hello, Colt. Remember me?"

Unfortunately the toddler did remember him, immediately clinging to Nick's side for protection.

Nick sat his son on the examination table, staying beside him while the doctor carried out the usual checks. Colt didn't seem to mind having his heart listened to or his tummy felt. He flinched away when it was time for his ears to be checked and didn't want to cooperate with the doctor when it was it was time to check his tonsils either.

"Can you hop onto the scales for me, Colt?" Doctor Bicknall put his pen torch away, showing him over to the scales. The toddler was hesitant at first, but he eventually climbed onto the scales, standing perfectly still while the doctor jotted down his weight.

"How much?" Nick queried, curious to know more about his son.

"Twenty three pounds." The man reported. "A little below average, but he's only twenty eight inches tall. We wouldn't expect him to weigh the same as the average three year old at thirty five inches or so. If we compare his weight with his last check up, he's right on track." He assured the man, taking a step back so Colt could jump down off the scales. "Back on the table now. I'm afraid it's that time again."

Nick lifted his son onto the table, getting instructed to remove his son's jeans by the nurse. He didn't want to himself as he knew what was about to happen, but he knew that it was for the best in the end.

Once his jeans were out of the way, the nurse wiped a small portion of his thigh with a small strip. Nick lay his son down so he couldn't see what was going on, feeling like a bad father as he held his little arms down to stop him from getting up again.

Nick cringed as the first needle went into his leg, but his son barely even flinched. The nurse prepared a second needle, holding the little boy's leg straight as she carefully slid it in. Colt's face immediately flushed red, bringing on his tears as he felt the pain of his second shot. He wriggled and squirmed while he cried, giving the nurse some trouble as she tried to withdraw the needle.

"All done." She announced, carefully sealing a plaster over his leg.

The protective father in Nick immediately lifted his son from the table, holding him close against his chest as his tears started to flow.

After only a few minutes, Colt settled down in his father's protective embrace, but he didn't want to get down. His father redressed him while he clung to his side, getting a few more checks from the doctor, before they could leave.

"Shall we go find, Nana?" Nick suggested, barely getting an answer out of traumatised child. He knew that he'd forget about it eventually, he just needed something else to take his mind off it. He carried his son, the diaper bag and the car seat around the block, to the nearest Wal-mart where Greg's mother was shopping. He double checked to make sure that her car was there, before he grabbed himself a trolley.

Colt didn't want to sit in it, so he used it to carry the car seat, while he held his baby against his side.

"Do you remember what Papa said he needed?" Adjusting his son against his hip, Nick slid his arm beneath his little legs, so he could support his weight while they walked around the store. "No, you don't remember?" He watched his son rubbing his eyes, guessing that he was getting tired again. "Do you want to sit in the trolley?"

Colt shook his head against his father's chest, rubbing his little eyes again.

"Get down, Daddy. I want to get down." His son demanded a few minutes later. Greg always let him walk around in the store, but Nick was a little more hesitant about it. "Daddy, want to get down." He started to fidget in his arms.

"Okay, but you have to stay right by me." He warned him, taking his hand as soon as he set him down. "Do you need to go potty yet?"

"No." He shook his head side to side, holding the trolley in front of him, so he didn't have to hold his father's hand. He stayed at his side for a few minutes, until he spotted something he wanted. He hurried away on his little legs before Nick even noticed him, grabbing the familiar packet of cookies from the shelf.

"Colt, we don't need those." He had purposely skipped the toys aisles so he didn't have to deal with tantrums, but the second the words came out of his mouth, he realised that he had set himself up for a tantrum. The toddler immediately started his usual whining, while he jumped up and down holding the cookies tightly against his chest. "No, we've got loads at home."

"I want dem." Colt screeched, getting tickled by his father, so the man could pry the packet from his hands. "Daddy." He gave him the puppy dog look, while he reached his hands up for the cookies.

"We've got loads at home. You can have one from the packet there, once we're done here." He slid his hands beneath the toddler's arms, lifting him onto his hip again. "C'mon, let's go get Papa's shaving cream. He needed that. I remember that."

"That over der." Colt quickly forgot about the cookies, pointing his father in the familiar direction. "Where Papa, Daddy? Why he no here?"

"Papa's workin'. We'll see him later." He sat Colt against the handles of the trolley, so he had one hand free to grab a few things that they needed on way. "Which juice do you like?" He tried to find the familiar bottle that they had just finished, but they all looked the same to him. Colt looked just as flustered as him though, as there were so many to choose from.

"Need some help?" A familiar voice called out to them.

"Nana!" The toddler shrieked with excitement, reaching his arms out for the woman.

"Hello, sweetheart." She lifted her grandchild from the trolley, hugging him tightly against her chest. "How did your doctor's appointment go?" She noticed the familiar signs that he had been crying, from his adorable puffy, red eyes.

"He had two shots."

"Ooh, Greg never liked getting shots either. He went nuclear for his three year shots. Daniel had to hold him down, because I couldn't do it. Five minutes later, he was giggling with his Papa Olaf in the waiting room again." Jean smirked, gently combing her fingers through her grandchild's hair. "Did you kick up a fuss like your Papa?"

As his son remained silent in the woman's arms, Nick let her know, "He was brave for the first one, but the second one hurt a little. Didn't it?"

Colt nodded, putting his arms around his Nana's neck. "I got sticky's."

"Stickers?" His Nana gave him a wide smile. "Wow, do they have cool pictures on them?" The child gave her a shrug, as he didn't actually see them going on. "We'll take a look later when we get home. If they don't, we can change em for the dinosaur stickers in your Papa's cupboard." She suggested, getting a wide smile of the toddler. "So, how much more have you got to get?"

"Juice." Colt pointed to the juice behind them.

"I don't know which one to get." Nick admitted to her, still a little nervous around her. He always had been because of his relationship with her son, but since he walked out on Greg, he felt even more nervous around her.

"Greg usually gets this one." She reached for one of the bottles that said one hundred percent juice on the side. "You're welcome." She gave him a smile, handing him his toddler back. "So, what's next on the list?"

Jean helped them continue their shopping, before she drove them back to Greg's apartment. She insisted on unpacking everything herself, while Nick got his toddler settled in the front room. She then insisted on starting dinner, even though it was still the afternoon and Greg wouldn't be back for hours.

While she was busy in the kitchen, Nick took a seat beside his son on the sofa, gently draping a blanket around him, while the toddler watched his cartoons. Colt glanced away from the television every few minutes, selecting another little cracker biscuit from the snack trap cup in his little hands, looking as though he was about to fall asleep any second.

"Did you have fun at preschool today?" He spoke softly, causing his son to tilt his head back against the sofa cushions he was leant against. "What did you do?"

"Read story."

"What story was it?" His father queried, smiling as the child had the same attention span as Greg. "Do you remember anythin' about it?"

"A giraffe." His son lifted one of the little biscuits from the snack trap cup. "Daddy." Colt handed the snack trap cup to his father, so he could adjust himself against the pillow beside him. Once he was more comfortable, he turned his attention back to the cartoons in front of him, barely able to keep his eyes open anymore.

When he finally did fall asleep, Nick was soon to follow, completely forgetting about what day it was or the fact that his mother in law was in the house.

He thought that when he finally got his results through, he would feel better knowing that it hadn't spread and he was going to be okay. But after his appointment, he only felt worse knowing that all he could do now was wait and hope that it didn't come back. He didn't think he could handle something else wrong with him, and he didn't want to put his family through anything else either.

Returning home after his long day at the lab, Greg immediately smiled as he saw Nick and their son, fast asleep on the sofa. He reached for the remote between them, switching the television off to let them sleep. The action caused Nick to flutter his eyes open though, stopping Greg from sneaking away again.

"Hey, don't wake up." He whispered, delicately brushing his fingertips across the man's forehead. He pressed a kiss to his forehead, leaving him to sleep while he made his way into the kitchen. He could smell something good, but his mother had completely cleaned up after herself. He noticed that even the kitchen sink was sparkling in his dingy little apartment.

He made his way through to his son's bedroom, finding her stood ironing in the middle of his room, with headphones in her ears.

"Hi." She immediately removed the buds from her ears, finishing up with the t-shirt she had in front of her, before she gave her son a hug. "I hope you don't mind. You know, some of these clothes don't even fit him anymore." She pointed to a stack on the end of his bed. "Before you move out of here, you should have a good clear out of the stuff you don't need anymore."

"We might have another boy though." Greg gave her a smile, putting the clothes away in the bottom drawer. "I told you that we're thinking of having another baby a little sooner, right?" His mother gave him a slightly confused look, as though she didn't know anything about it. "Right, I told Dad." He remembered, perching himself on the edge of his son's bed. "I can't believe he actually managed to keep that one to himself. Well, we want another baby while Colt is still a baby. We can't have one naturally at the moment, so we're gonna go for the artificial insemination thing."

"IVF? You know you have an increased chance of multiples if you go for that route." She warned him.

"I know, but having twins would be kinda cute." Greg pointed out to her, getting a smile out of the woman. "I'm not stupid, Mom. I know there's an increased chance of multiples, but what's so bad about more babies in one pregnancy? I'm not gonna get pregnant with sextuplets and star on a reality TV show or anything like that. If there's more than three... we'd be smart about it. And it's not the embryo implanting thing anyway. Nick doesn't agree with the test tube baby thing."

"How are you doing it then?"

"Sorta the natural way." He didn't really want to discuss this with his mother, but he knew that he had to satisfy her curiosity, otherwise she'd never stop. "Nick had some of his little swimmers frozen before he started any kind of chemo, so we can use those. They just have to thaw them and put them inside me using a catheter or something. Then it's up to the little swimmers to do their job."

"You're old enough to call them sperm, sweetheart." His mother chortled, handing him another pile of clothes. "When?" She gave him a curious look. "Am I going to be expecting a new grandchild over Christmas?"

"For that to happen, I'd have to be at least five months pregnant right now." He pointed out to her, putting his son's clothes away in the drawer beside him. "By next Christmas you'll probably have one... or two. We're gonna start trying as soon as we're out of here." Her son climbed to his feet, straightening out the bed sheets where he had been sitting. "Nick doesn't know anything about tonight, right?" He double checked, getting a smile out of his mother.

"You can leave him to sleep a while longer. We've got plenty of time." His mother pointed out to him.

"Okay, I just wonna go check on him." He realised that they did have plenty of time, but he wanted to spend some time with the man he adored, especially today.

As he suspected, Nick was still fast asleep on the sofa, with his toddler beside him.

Greg didn't want to wake him for anything in the world, but he could never keep anything secret. He wanted to ruin the whole surprise and tell him now, but more than anything, he just wanted to look into his eyes. He gently cupped the man's head in his hands, pressing multiple kisses to his forehead to slowly wake him up.

"Hey." He spoke softly, kneeling down in front of the man. "Can you wake up for a second?"

Nick sniffed softly, adjusting himself against the pillows behind him. "I am."

Greg immediately smiled, leaning up on his knees so he was level with the older man's eyes. "Do you know what day it is today, baby?" He playfully tickled his stomach, trying to keep him lucid for a few more seconds. "It's the eighteenth of August." He gave him a hint, but Nick still didn't get it. "Only the most important day of your life."

With his eyes firmly closed, Nick replied, "I have no idea."

"It's your birthday." He proudly announced, resting their heads together. He heard the familiar whistling of Nick's breathing, indicating that he had dozed off to sleep again. "Happy Birthday, baby." The younger man whispered, pressing a kiss to the sleeping man's lips, before he left his side.

While his family were sleeping, Greg made his way into his bedroom, emailing his father the details of the new house that they were about to buy. He knew that Nick's sister was going to check things out for them, but she was only a family lawyer. Buying a house wasn't exactly her field. His father however had experience in buying and selling properties, as he did it all the time for work.

His mother left a few hours later to go and set things up, leaving Greg in the silent apartment with his sleeping family.

"Papa." His sleepy little angel eventually appeared at the end of his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I have to go."

"Okay." Greg scrambled to his feet off the bed, leading the toddler to the bathroom down the hall. "Here we go." He lifted him into the potty, hearing his cell ringing in the other room. "Stay right there." He hurried back to his room, grabbing the phone, before he made his way back to the bathroom. "Hey Mom..." He answered his phone. "Everything's ready? Cool. Okay, I'll start waking him up and getting them ready..."

"Papa." Colt reached his arms out for him.

Greg adjusted the phone against his shoulder, so he could lift his son up to the sink. He helped him to wash his hands, while he continued to go over the details with his mother. "Mom, don't worry about anything, just pretend to be a normal guest for once and show up without worrying about the details." He giggled into the phone, carefully setting his son down once he was done. "Okay... I'll see you there. Love you too, bye." He snapped his cell shut, helping Colt to dry his hands. "You didn't wake Daddy up, did you?"

Colt shook his head, reaching his arms out for the man once his hands were dry. "Papa, up." Greg did as the toddler wished, carrying him back to the bedroom to turn his computer off. "Why Nana gone?"

"I can't tell you." He smiled at his son, knowing he'd spill the secret as soon as he was told it. "But we need to get you dressed." He took him through to his bedroom, undressing him from the jeans and t-shirt that he had been wearing. He immediately noticed the plasters on his legs, realising he had completely forgotten that Colt was getting his shots today, with all the other madness that was going on. "Do they hurt?" He felt compelled to hug him, even though the child hadn't expressed any discomfort from his legs.

"I brave." Colt declared, receiving kisses to the top of his head. "Papa, no more shots. I no like dem."

"Okay, I can't promise you anything, but you don't have to get any for a long while yet." He pressed another kiss to his little cheek, giving him a proud smile for being so brave. "C'mon then, let's get you dressed. Nana just ironed your outfit, so it's all nice and neat for you." He lifted the cute little blue tartan shirt from the bed spread, buttoning it down his son's chest. He then grabbed for the pair of navy jeans, laying the toddler on the floor in front of him, so he could pull them onto his legs. "Let Daddy or me know if you need to go potty tonight, okay?"

Colt nodded, giggling softly as his father tickled his toes while he was putting on clean socks for him.

"There we go." He pulled him to his feet, playfully pressing kisses to his little cheek, erupting a giggle from the toddler.

"Papa, no."

"I'm sorry. I just love you too much not to kiss and cuddle you every chance I get." He swept him into his arms, holding him securely against his chest. "You won't want me to kiss and cuddle you when you're bigger. I'm gonna take every chance I get now, so I don't embarrass you like my mother did. She still kisses and cuddles me in public. I think I'll spare you that torture." He teased, getting a wide smile out of the child. "Let's give Daddy a few more minutes before we wake him up. You wonna play with some toys in here, while I take a quick shower?"

"Yeah." Colt wriggled away as soon as his father set him down, making his way over to his toy chest. He got some cars out to play with, dropping to his floor to play with them. Greg made sure that he was settled, before he hurried across the hall for a quick shower. He knew that he shouldn't leave him too long, but he had to get the stench of work off his skin.

Colt stayed put in his rooms for a few minutes, before he made his way towards the front room. He set his toys on the coffee table, while he climbed onto the sofa with his father. He didn't want to wake him up yet; he just wanted to sit with him while he played with the car in his hands. He lay himself against the man's chest again, feeling his father's chest arching against him with each breath he took.

"Hey you, I told you not to wake him up." Greg had hopped straight out of the shower, with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist to see where his toddler had got to. Colt refused to get up though, remaining against the man's warm side. "Don't wake him." His father warned him, before he turned back towards his bedroom to get dressed.

"Daddy." Colt crawled across the cushions, gently tapping the man's head. He tried to pry his eyes open, getting his hand pushed away by the sleepy man. He rested his head against Nick's shoulder, using the man's chest as a ramp for his car. As he ran the little wheels across Nick's neck, the man shifted himself so he was lying flat on his back.

His son struggled to a sitting position beside him, using his chest as a climbing frame. He giggled and squirmed as Nick suddenly woke up, tickling him to the cushions beside him. "I thought it was you, yah little monster." He hugged him tightly against his chest, noticing that his clothes had been changed. "Where's Papa?"

Colt pointed down the hall, putting his legs either side of Nick's chest, as the man pushed himself to a sitting position. Nick climbed to his feet with his son against his chest, taking him towards the bedroom down the hall.

"What's all this in aid of?" He noticed that Greg was buttoning a shirt across his chest.

"Nothing." Greg tried desperately to keep the surprise a surprise. "But you should get dressed, we're leaving soon." He indicated over his shoulder, to the clothes he had laid out for him on the bed.

Nick looked at what his son was wearing, before he gave his partner a wide smile. "I am not wearin' that." He saw the same tartan blue shirt and dark navy jeans on the bed spread, realising that Greg was trying to match him with what his son was wearing. "Where are we even goin'?"

"Out. And yes you are." The younger man lifted his son out of Nick's arms, pointing him over to the clothes. "C'mon gorgeous, you can trust me. I wouldn't just dress you up like this to take embarrassing pictures of you." He giggled, making his way out of the room.

"Yeah, that really gives me a lot of confidence." Nick sarcastically called after him, reluctantly making his way over to the bed. He lifted the shirt first, giving out a soft sigh. It wasn't that bad, it just wasn't something that he usually wore. Not having the energy to fight about it, Nick got dressed in the clothes his partner had provided, before he made his way into the front room. "The jeans are too big." He stuck his thumbs beneath the waist band of his jeans, showing Greg that they were baggy around his waist.

"You've lost weight since the last time I bought clothes for you." Greg pointed out for him, grabbing a belt. He pulled Nick closer by his belt loops, so he could thread the belt through the loops around his waist. Once the belt was in place, he tucked Nick's shirt in for him, pressing a kiss to his chin. "You look, Gorgeous."

"Can you tell me where we're goin' now?"

"Nope, not yet." He adjusted Nick's collar for him, then made his way into the front room. He lifted Colt up from the floor, sitting him on his lap so he could put his shoes on for him. "Can you grab the diaper bag from the kitchen?" He pointed Nick towards it. "And we have to find, Pancho. We can't leave without him. Can we?"

"No." Colt shook his head, squirming as his father slid his foot into his other shoe.

"I saw him on his bed. I'll get him." Nick hurried down the hall, grabbing Pancho off his son's bed. He still had no clue where they were going, but he was starting to get a little excited about it, whatever it was. He grabbed the diaper bag as instructed, following Greg down the stairs to the car. He didn't bother asking where they were going again; he was just relieved that they were doing something to take his mind off the cancer.

"So, if we're goin' out. Why did your Mom come round and make all that food? I thought we were havin' dinner with her tonight?" Nick tried to understand that part, getting a grin out of his partner. "What was the dinner for?"

"We are having dinner, but the dinner she made is for tomorrow. Tonight has to be special. It's your birthday."

When they arrived at the familiar place, Nick gave his partner a curious look, but he still wasn't revealing anything. Greg lifted Colt into the stroller they had bought with them, leading the way into the restaurant they used to frequent after long shifts at the lab.

Not the most romantic spot, but it held a lot of memories for them.

"This is all for you," Greg opened the door, holding the man's hand as he looked around at the familiar faces inside. "For your birthday. Well, really we have two celebrations now. Your birthday and being cancer free. Or three, if you count the fact that we have a house."

"Five." Nick spoke softly. "I have you back, and we have a son together." He pointed out to him, pulling his partner in for a hug. "I love you." He whispered against his neck, just in case he still didn't know it. He held him tightly for a moment longer, wishing that he could have just spent his birthday alone with Greg, but his partner did always like to surprise him.

He eventually pulled back from his partner, smiling at the people stood in front of them.

"Hey, Nick. Happy Birthday." Sara stepped forwards first, giving him a hug. "We've missed you round here."

"I've missed bein' here." Nick admitted to her, smiling as she handed him a present. "It's not slippers is it?"

"Nope, something a little more practical." She assured him. "Besides, I'm a year older than you. You're still the younger good looking one."

"I think that title belongs to him." He indicated towards his partner beside him, before he opened the present. He lifted the framed photo from the box, giving her a smile as it was a photo of the old team altogether. Warrick included. "Thanks." He spoke softly, running his eyes across all the familiar faces. "Nothin' ever stays the same, does it?"

"Sometimes for a good reason." She motioned towards the child in his partner's arms. "You've got a good thing here, Nicky. Warrick wouldn't want you to change anything for his sake. He knew about you two and honestly, I'd think that he'd have wanted this for you." She hugged him again, noticing that he was wearing the same shirt as his son. "Greg's mother wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?"

"No, it's all, Greg. He thinks it's cute." Nick smirked, brushing his hand down the shirt. "Whatever makes him happy. He's the most important person in my life now." He gave Sara another hug, before he greeted the familiar faces from the lab. Wendy, Mandy, Judy from the front desk and a few of the CSI's from the day shift that he worked with a few times.

"Saving the best for last?" Mrs Sanders greeted the man with a gentle hug, pressing a kiss to cheek. "Forty two, look at you, you're still just a baby." She teased the man, gently patting his back as she held him closer. "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry for everything you've been through. And I'm so sorry I've been the nightmare mother in law." She pulled back from him, looking into his eyes. "I was only trying to protect my son, but right now, I have no clue what I was even protecting him from. You love him, I know that. Any fool can see that. Honestly, you don't even feel like a stranger anymore. You feel like my own flesh and blood."

"Thank you, Mrs San... Jean." He corrected himself, giving her a smile as she shook his head at him.

"Always with the pleasantries. I think after a certain point, you can drop those manners of yours and just call me, Mom." She giggled softly, playfully pinching his cheek. "You're a good boy, Nicky. I always wanted my son to find the best. And you're it. I admit that I was a little bit sceptical at first. I'm not even sure if it was the fact that you're a man or even that you were a well mannered Texas boy, but I didn't think that you were right for each other."

Before Nick could say anything, Jean quickly continued,

"Now, I realise that you're just like my Daniel. He's a well mannered California boy, with parents that hated my guts the first time they met me. The wedding was a nightmare with both of our parents there, then when Greg finally came along, they warmed up to me a little. They had to for their grandson's sake. Greg's a lot like me and you're a lot like Daniel, so I think you're perfect for each other. And I know like Daniel, you'll bite your tongue around the in laws and pretend that you like us, even though you can't wait to get away, but as long as you continue to make my boy happy... and make beautiful baby's together," She quickly snuck it in. "You'll always be the best in my books."

"Thank you." Nick gave her a nervous smile. "And for the record, I don't pretend to like you. I don't really have a relationship with my own mother, and my father hasn't exactly spoken to me since I started datin'... anyone. Greg's really lucky to have parents like you. I want Colt... and any other kids that we might have to feel that same unconditional love as they grow up."

"Oh, stop it." She playfully slapped his shoulder. "You're gonna smudge my makeup." She dried her eyes with her fingertips, before she pulled the young man in for another bone crushing hug. "I don't want to take anyone's place, but Daniel and I are always here for you, sweetheart. Whatever you need, don't be afraid to ask. Even for just a motherly hug."

"Thanks," Nick placed his hand on her back, appreciating the parental bond that he had been missing out on for as long as he could remember. "Mom." He whispered the paternal name, guessing it wouldn't cause too much grief, as he called his own mother, Mama.

"Ooh, your present..." The woman reached into her purse, retrieving a small little gift box. "It's not much. I have to admit that I've been a bad mother in law. I didn't even know it was your birthday until Greg called us yesterday, so it was just a last minute gift before we drove out here."

"Thank you."

"You haven't opened it yet, it might be horrible." She giggled, placing it in his hands to let him take a look. Nick slowly opened the box, surprised to see a rather expensive looking watch inside. "Turn it over. I cheated a little. I wanted to engrave it with something personal, but they had this one already made."

The Texan carefully lifted the watch from the box, afraid that he might break it. He turned it over, reading, "May today be only the beginning of a lifetime of dreams come true."

"I was looking for one with birthday messages or sappy love messages, but considering what else you went through today. I thought this was perfect." She explained herself, relieved her son had texted her earlier to tell her that his scans were all clear, otherwise her gift would have gone down like a kick in the balls. "I hope it's okay. You can get it changed if you..."

"I love it." Nick gave her another hug. "Thank you, it's perfect." He looked over her shoulder as he spotted the door opening, seeing a familiar face stepping through it. He left Jean's side for a moment, making his way over to the woman that just stepped inside. "Hi, Catherine."

"Hi, Nicky." She spoke softly, handing him the bag from her hands. "Champagne. I couldn't remember what type of wine you liked. I never remembered you ordering any when we went out, so I got champagne. Not cheap either." She pointed it out to him, receiving a smile in response. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?" Nick gave her a surprised look, hoping that Greg hadn't told her about the cancer.

"That you've been sick." The woman scolded him. "Greg didn't tell me what with, he just told me to cut you some slack because you haven't been off living the high life. You've been seriously ill, spending your time in hospitals and hotel rooms to recover. He didn't say what it was, but it must have been pretty serious. Why didn't you feel that you could tell me?"

Nick pulled her off to one side, deciding to listen to his partner and give her the truth, rather than letting her mind wonder. "Shortly after I left Greg, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I've been through all the treatment and everythin', goin' in for regular checkups to make sure it hadn't spread... and everythin' was fine until they found a lump. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the beginning of this year."

Catherine covered her hand over her mouth, feeling tears burning against her eyelids as she looked at the man in front of her. "Oh, Nicky."

"I've been through all the treatment. Today I got my test results back, they're all negative." He tried to reassure her.

"That's good." She gave out a sigh of relief, pulling him closer to wrap her arms tightly around his shoulders. "I can't believe you went away to deal with all of this on your own. Your family has been right here all along waiting for you to come back, why didn't you?"

"I thought I deserved it." He pulled away from her, looking at his partner across the room. "For what I did to him. I don't deserve him."

"Yes you do." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You deserve each other. You're great together."

"Funny how the second every one finds out that I have cancer, I'm suddenly great with Greg." The man remarked, looking at his son across the room. "I know I'm not right for him, but I love him too much to leave him. I can't anyway; we have a baby together and a future. What kind of father would I be if I walked out on him again?" He left the woman's side, making his way over to Greg. He wrapped his arms around his waist from behind him, receiving a smile in response.

"Hey." Greg whispered, leaning back into his embrace. "Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah." Nick clutched him tighter, looking round the room at all their friends.

Daniel was currently holding Colt in his arms, while the girls from the lab fussed over the toddler that they had barely seen over the past few months. Jean was talking to Sara over the other side of the room, looking as though she was giving her another lecture about children. The truth was, Sara asked her a question about IVF, even though she wasn't willing to go through it herself.

"Why don't you look happy then?" His partner turned in his arms, giving him a curious look. "What's the matter?" Greg asked him, placing his hands on the man's hips.

"Nothin'." He shook his head. "Thank you for this, Greg. It's great, but now I feel a little guilty." He realised that they had missed out on Greg's birthday, as they were more worried about his cancer at the time. "This is exactly what I didn't want when I came back. Everyone round here knows that I'm the asshole that walked on you. The second they hear about the cancer, they suddenly change their mind and think I'm doin' the right thing. I didn't want to be this huge burden to you. I didn't want you to take me back out of duty. I just wanted you back in case... in case I didn't make it."

"I know. I do. I know that." The younger man gently brushed his fingers through Nick's soft hair, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. He placed his hand on his cheek, looking at every detail of the man's face that he adored. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Nicky, preferably without the cancer, but I'll be here with you for all of that. From the slightest cold, to the more serious stuff like this. When I die, I want you to be the last person I ever see. You're my light at the end of the tunnel."

"You know the likelihood of you goin' first is pretty slim." Nick took the younger man's hand into his own, weaving their fingers together. "I don't think I could go on if I lost you first. But it's still more likely... me."

"I don't want to think about that, I want to think about all the other things that we're going to do together. Like moving into our new house, having another baby, getting married..." He gave his partner a wide smile, before he sealed a kiss over his lips. "We probably shouldn't be doing it in that order, but we never do things by the book when it comes to our relationship. And please don't go on about money again; I know that babies and things are expensive. There's formula, diapers, clothes, more diapers, more clothes when they grow out of the old ones and then more diapers..."

"Greg, I wasn't goin' to say anythin' about the money." Nick interrupted him, holding the younger man close against his side. "We could still do things in the right order though. More or less. Once we get the house sorted, we can start plannin' our weddin'. I won't be able to father a child for eighteen months or so, givin' us more than enough time to get the house sorted out for another baby in our lives."

Greg gave him a nod, even though he really wanted the baby and everything now. He didn't want to wait for anything, especially the fairytale life with his partner.

END OF CHAPTER 19

**Hi guys, sorry about the delay. With birthdays, mothers day, work and the total redecoration of our house, I haven't really had the time to get back to this story. I made this chapter an extra long one for you, but I don't know when I'll have the next one ready.**

**Please let me know what you think, I really do appreciate all of your reviews.**

**~ Holly**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry about the lack of chapter updates lately, my old computer finally decided to give up on me just before easter, which was really annoying because I had a few days off to finish my writing but I couldn't do a thing. I managed to salvage a few of the chapters I had written, but I've only just got my new computer now to edit them before I posted them. Another annoying thing is there's no spell check on this WordPad thing that came FREE with my new computer, and I'm a naturally terrible speller :D (So I'm really sorry for any mistakes.)**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, literal tears went into it as I thought I had lost it all when my computer kicked the bucket :D**

**Have a great weekend!**

**~ Holly**

**Chapter Twenty:**

Lifting a box out of the back of the truck, Nick carried it up his brand new driveway, then through the front door. He placed it down on the wooden floor, relieved to finally be here. After the inspectors took a look around the house, they found a few problems that set back their moving date to over three months now. Some of the floors had to be replaced, along with a few walls that had leaky pipes behind them. They thought they were going to lose the house altogether, but they managed to find someone that would fix and replace all the shoddy pipe work, along with the walls and floors that had been affected, for a descent price that wouldn't cause them any problems in the long run too.

The house no longer had a damp musty smell to it, but a freshly painted one. They couldn't believe that it had taken three, nearly four months to get the house sorted out, but they were finally allowed to move in, just in time too. Nick had just received his second all clear from his regular cancer checkups, and they were expecting a little a something else.

"No Greg, I told you not to lift anythin'." Nick hurried into the kitchen, stopping him from lifting the box from the floor. He lifted it for him, placing it on the counter in front of him, rewarded with a scowl for his efforts, rather than a grateful smile. "What? You have to take it easy."

"At ten weeks?" Greg sighed heavily, realising he still had months of this left.

When their plans to move into their new house had been put on hold, they decided to look into another future plan. They only planned on just researching the option of getting pregnant artificially, but once they got talking to the doctors about thawing Nick's sperm to artificially impregnate Greg, they couldn't stop thinking about it.

Or Greg couldn't anyway.

Hating having to wait for everything, he agreed to the treatment on the spot, getting artificially inseminated exactly a month after Nick's birthday. Nick's frozen sperm was immediately thawed, then inserted into Greg's uterus using a catheter. He had to lie still for a while afterwards, but the treatment seemed to work first time, as he now ten weeks pregnant with their second child.

To make it feel more real, the two of them had a weekend alone together in a hotel in California, Long Beach, while Greg's mother looked after their son. But now that Nick had seen the positive pregnancy test, he had suddenly become really over protective and slightly annoying to his partner.

"You've had some bleedin' already; I just want you to be careful." Nick defended his actions, lifting another box onto the counter for his partner. "I called your Mom; she's gonna be here a little earlier to take Colt this afternoon, while we go in for your appointment. It's gonna be the first time that we'll get to see it on the monitor." He pecked a kiss to his partner's cheek, before he pulled him in for a hug.

Something he had been doing a lot of since he found out that they were expecting a baby.

"Would you relax? Anyone would think that I had just been diagnosed as terminally ill." Greg teased him, hugging the man tightly as he felt him breathing heavily against his shoulder. "You're such a big softie." He smiled against his neck. "You better hold it together in the delivery room of this little guy or girl."

"I will." Nick promised, pulling back from him slightly. "I love you." He pressed their lips together, reminding Greg that he could be romantic, and not just an annoyance. He slowly pulled back from the kiss, giving him another peck to the cheek, before he made his way back outside to the truck they had hired.

While he was away getting another box, Greg knelt down in front of the stroller against the kitchen wall, looking at his sleeping toddler inside it. "Your Daddy is driving me crazy." He whispered, pressing a kiss to his child's forehead. He was actually glad that Colt was asleep for this, as it would be easier to get everything into the house, without worrying about what he was getting up to or into the whole time.

"Hello." His mother called through the house, hurrying into the kitchen to hug her baby. "Sorry we're so late, your father had a crisis with the car. Something to do with the wipers. Did you know it's pouring out there?"

"Really," Greg motioned towards the double glass doors behind him, specifically towards all the water running down the glass. "I hadn't noticed. Nick had to move the truck closer to get the boxes in without getting them too wet. Can you stop him from bringing everything in himself? He's gonna do his back in at this rate."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Jean quickly hugged her son, setting her bag down on the counter. "Your Uncle Callum and Tyler are with us. Your Uncle came to help out, and I thought that Colt could use some company while we're unpacking. Where is..."

Greg pointed towards the end of the kitchen, where the stroller was positioned. "He stayed up half the night last night. He was too excited about this place to sleep. He woke up this morning for his breakfast, but he fell asleep in the car on the way over here."

"And how are you doing?" Jean knelt down in front of her grandson, looking over her shoulder at her son. "Everything going okay?"

"I'm ten weeks, not ten months!" He snapped her, sick of the extra attention he had been getting lately. "I was four months pregnant when I found out the last time, and I was fine. I worked right up until I was six months, so can everybody please relax? This thing is only the size of a jelly bean at the moment."

"You are aware that ten weeks is close to three months, right?"

Greg gave his mother a scowl in response. "Yes, I am aware. Thanks a lot for that pregnancy book by the way." He sarcastically remarked. "Tip of the week this week is to start shopping for maternity bras."

The woman couldn't help but giggle, feeling her son's eyes burning into her. "I'm sorry, but they haven't exactly written a male pregnancy of what to expect yet. Maybe you can write one of those and make a fortune, unlike your last little disaster."

"Go away, before my hormones force me to hit you." He warned his mother.

"Alright." Jean climbed to her feet. She made her way outside to help carry some boxes, relieved that the rain had finally stopped. "Tyler, Greg's in the kitchen with Colt." She pointed the child through the house. "Look out though; he's in a bad mood."

Tyler skipped through the house, taking a look around the large empty entrance hall, before she made a left turn into the kitchen. "Hi, Greg."

Turning his head to the door, Greg gave his younger cousin a smile. "Hi." He noticed that her hair was tied into fish tail braids either side of her head, with little bows at the bottom. She was wearing a pretty summer dress and sandals that he thought the tom-boy would have hated. "Your Mom get you to wear that dress?"

"Grandma bought it for me. Mommy said I can't wear my jeans in Las Vegas, because it's too hot." She knelt down beside him, looking at the baby cups and bowls inside the box. "Why are you in a bad mood?"

"Auntie Jean tell you that?" He guessed, getting a nod out of the child. "I'm not in a bad mood. She's just trying to wind me up." He put away some of the things from the box, before he asked her, "How's... Mugs?" He remembered the cat's name.

"He's bigger now." Tyler reached into her dress pocket, bringing up a picture on her phone for him.

"Wow, he's so big already."

"He's goes outside now. Mommy got mad because he dug up one of her flower beds to go to the bathroom."

Greg giggled softly, taking another look at the picture on her phone. "He's still cute. Nicky won't let me have a cat or a dog. He thinks animals are too messy."

"Auntie Jean says children are messier."

"She would say that, she's never had a pet." Her Uncle Daniel informed her, setting another box marked kitchen onto the counter. "Nick told me to tell you not to lift any of these yourself."

"I'm fine." Greg groaned, climbing to his feet. "I can lift a few boxes with baby cups and plastic plates in them."

"Nick's words, not mine." His father defended himself, before he gave his son a quick hug. "Good to see you again, kiddo. Do you want Colt's toys in the front room or the one at the back."

"Can I help?" Tyler asked, looking at what was in the boxes in front of her.

"Second living room. Hold on Tyler, I'll be back in a second." Greg made his way out into the entrance hall, showing his father the way to the second living room. "Nick put these in last week. He hates flat pack furniture now, but he did a really good job." He pointed to the stacked cabinets against one of the walls.

"It's good. If Colt's anything like you though, he's gonna start climbing these." His father pointed out to him, scaring his son as he checked how sturdy they were.

"He won't climb them." Greg hoped, realising he hadn't even thought of that. "I hope he won't. We'll always be in here with him anyway, so we'll teach him not to. Just put the boxes here, I'll put em away later." He instructed, making his way back to the kitchen with another worry on his mind.

"Why can't you lift the boxes?" Tyler queried, following her cousin around the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"I'm pregnant... again." He informed her, watching her jaw dropping in amazement. "I'm only ten weeks, but they're all acting as though I'm ten months. Do I look pregnant to you?"

"No, but my Mom said you can only be pregnant for nine months."

"Know it all." Greg rolled his eyes at her, moving one of the boxes over to the other counter all by himself. "I didn't mean literally. The point is, I've still got weeks of this left. Months even. I want this baby, but I don't want everyone to fuss over me like this."

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" Tyler asked, using the chair against the counter to climb to his level.

"I don't know yet." He shrugged, handing her some cups to put away. "Apparently it starts growing its boy or girl parts next week, but you can't really tell what you're having until twenty weeks. And I don't want to know until it's born. Nicky doesn't want to know either. We both want it to be a surprise." He handed her another cup, giving her a wide smile as she looked round at him. "More fun that way."

Tyler returned the smile, even though she was still curious to know what he would have. "When will Colt wake up?" She jumped down from the chair, taking hold of the plates that Greg had passed her.

"About another hour or so. He didn't get much sleep last night." Greg pointed her towards the open cupboard across the room. "Put the plates in there. He'll probably be cranky when he wakes up, so he won't be able to play right away." He warned her, looking towards the door as Nick peered in to check on him. "I haven't lifted a thing." He raised his hands away from the box. "Dad thinks Colt's gonna climb the cabinets you put up in the playroom."

"He won't. Not if we keep an eye on him, he won't." Nick shook his head, trying to put his mind at ease. "It's stopped rainin' though."

"Can I go shop for some food then?"

"Not without me." Nick shook his head. "We've barely unpacked the van yet."

Climbing to his feet, Greg grabbed hold of Nick's sleeve, dragging the startled man out into the entrance hall to talk to him. "Nick, as much as I want your baby, I don't want all this grief. It was cute at first, but now it's just annoying." He released his arm, finally giving him a piece of his mind. "I'm sick of this already and I'm only ten weeks. I understand that you're excited about this, but I have months to go yet. I'm not handicapped, I'm just pregnant."

"I know that." Nick led him backwards towards the door of their front room, giving them more privacy from Jean's prying ears. "I can't actually do anythin' to help you durin' this, so I guess it's just my way of copin'. I can't carry the baby, but I can protect you both."

"I don't need protecting though, Nicky."

"I feel like you do. I feel like you're really fragile at the moment, like you're made of glass or somethin'." Nick admitted the truth to him. "It's my job to protect you. I'll back off a little, but I'm not makin' any promises."

Greg rolled his eyes, pushing past the man to get back to the kitchen.

"What's so wrong with me wantin' to protect you?" His partner followed him back to the kitchen. "It's a natural instinct. Hi, Tyler." He waved to her. "What's wrong with that, Greg?"

"It's... demeaning." Greg turned to face him, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm not your dutiful little wife, I'm a grown man. I don't need to be coddled every second of the day. I just want to get on with this. You're not helping at the moment; you're just making me regret my choice to go ahead with this so early."

"I'll stop." Reaching into his back pocket for the car keys, Nick placed them in Greg's hand, before he pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Drive carefully." He cautioned him, receiving a scowl in response. "What, I didn't say I'd stop completely. I still care."

"Something like that, I don't mind." Greg took the keys off his hands, sealing a kiss over the older man's lips. "I love you."

"Good, because it doesn't feel like you do sometimes." He received a playful jab to the stomach for that comment, followed by another kiss. "Your mood swings are comin' along great."

"You ain't seen nuthin yet." The younger man grinned at him, returning to the kitchen to continue unpacking. "So Tyler, where should we put the knives and forks?"

"Here." She pulled open one of the top drawers near the sink, right where they were in her own house. She stood back as Greg placed the cutlery tray into the drawer, grinning widely as it was a perfect fit. "Knives, forks, spoons..." His cousin pointed to each of the relevant compartments, before she hurried over to the box with the cutlery inside.

Nick smiled at the two of them, before he made his way back outside. He helped Callum and Daniel to lift the sofa into the house, while Jean carried the lighter boxes full of their clothes. They managed to get the sofa through the front door just fine, but the living room door was a lot narrower, making it a bit more of a struggle.

While the men were trying to fit the oversized sofa through the door frame, Greg led his cousin, Tyler up the stairs, so they could start unpacking some things for Colt's bedroom. Nick had already carried the mattress for his bed up earlier, so Greg could start on putting covers on his bed for tonight, while Tyler sorted the toddler's clothes into the wardrobe against the wall.

"All of the twins' clothes are covered in puke." Tyler giggled, carefully folding another one of the small little t-shirts into the drawer in front of her. "My Mommy says that's just how babies are, but it's gross. I never want to have a baby."

"You'll change your mind one day." Greg crawled across the floor towards her. "When I was a kid, I hated other kids and never wanted to have a kid of my own when I grew up. In college, I stuck to my original never wanting kids line. I even quoted statistics on the damage that a kid would do to my career. Even when I found out I was pregnant with Colt, I still didn't want to have children. Since I've had him though, I've changed my mind."

"Why?" Tyler sat cross legged in front of him, pairing the socks together that had just been thrown into the bottom of the box. They had just been washed, so Greg just tipped the contents of the clean laundry into a box while they were packing. "Why'd you change your mind?"

Greg gave her a shrug, "I guess because when you look at other peoples kids, you just see the whining, the vomit, the noise and the way they always get in the way when you're trying to have an adult conversation. When you have one of your own though, you still get all that, but you start to see them really differently and all that stuff doesn't matter. You even start to find it cute. He's my own flesh and blood. He grew in here." He placed his hand on his stomach. "Kinda makes him more special than just the thought of having a kid when you're young. But seriously, if I hadn't had him by accident, I seriously wouldn't have had one at all."

"Why are you having another one then?" Tyler continued to question him.

"Because I want to. Maybe I was always meant to be a baby person. I just didn't know it until I had one." He smirked, catching his mother snooping outside the door. "Yes, you heard that right. Have they got the sofa in yet?"

"Yep, they just got it in." Jean stepped into the room, taking a look around the newly decorated bedroom. Since she last saw the house, they had redecorated all of the rooms. Colt's room had been wallpapered with a light blue paper. They tore up the old carpets due to water damage, replacing them with a softer blue carpet that went with the new wallpaper. "It's really nice in here now. Do you have curtains?" She pointed to the window.

"The one's from his old room." Greg nodded, receiving a funny look in response. "I know they're the wrong colour, but it'll be alright for now. Besides, red and blue go." He climbed to his feet, so he could hang the rest of his son's clothes on the rail in the wardrobe. "What?" He noticed a look on the woman's face as she looked around the room. "Don't you like it?"

"It reminds me of your nursery. Well, the nursery we set up when we first got pregnant. But you were the only one who ever slept in it." She smiled at her son, backing herself up towards the door. "I'll be downstairs if you need me. The boys will be bringing your bed up in a few minutes."

"Okay." Greg took a seat in front of Tyler again, beginning to feel a little left out. He wanted their moving day to be special, something that Nick and him would always remember, but it didn't feel memorable. He was stuck emptying all the light boxes, barely even spending a moment with the man he was moving in with, while Nick was bringing everything in.

And when he did see him, he just felt like a nag. He felt as though he had a chemical imbalance in his body because of the hormones, and he just kept snapping at the father of his unborn baby, without even realising he was doing it until it was too late.

"What's hormones?" Tyler gave him a curious look.

"It's... something in your body that can control how you feel. When you're pregnant, there's even more hormones in your body, so your mood can change really quick and sometimes you can't even control it." He tried to explain it to her in a way she'd understand.

"All done." She showed him the empty box, giving out a sigh as he slid another one her way. "Can I go outside and play with Colt?"

"He's probably still sleeping." He checked his watch, realising they had been upstairs for about an hour and a half now. "C'mon, let's go check on, Colt."

"If he's awake, can we go outside?" Tyler climbed to her feet with her cousin, following him down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"I don't know, it's still kinda wet outside." Greg pointed out the window as they reached the ground floor. "Maybe later once it's dry." He suggested, suddenly feeling like a responsible adult by that one statement alone. He made his way over to the stroller in the kitchen, smiling as the toddler was still fast asleep. He had his head tilted back, with a sliver of drool running down his chin.

"Daddy dribbles in his sleep too." Tyler noticed what he was looking at.

Greg giggled softly, brushing away the drool with his thumb. "He dribbles just like his Daddy too." He climbed to his feet, leaving Colt in the kitchen while he went to check on how much stuff they had left to unpack.

Besides the bed and mattress, there were eight or so boxes stacked against the side of the truck, along with the television, their smallish dining table, three chairs and a few bits of baby furniture. He thought that the move would have taken all day, but they really didn't have a lot of stuff.

"We got the chest of drawers upstairs." Nick appeared behind him, wrapping his arm around the younger man's waist to press a kiss to his neck. "We're gonna take the bed up, then we can make our way over to your appointment. You okay?"

"Uh huh." Greg turned in his arms, giving him a smile. "Except for the fact that the house is still pretty empty."

"Wait till we get everythin' unpacked. This place will begin to feel a little more homely once we have all our stuff where we want it." He assured him, pulling him in for a tender kiss. "We can get some pictures blown up for the walls. Make it feel like a real family home."

Greg grinned back at him, whispering, "I love you."

"Even though I've domesticated you?" Nick chuckled softly, gently combing his fingers through his partner's hair. "We shoulda done this years ago. I've been waitin' years for somethin' like this to happen." He placed his hand on Greg's stomach, bringing their lips together for another kiss. "I'm really lucky to have found you. I was beginnin' to think that this was never gonna happen for me."

"For a good looking sentimental cowboy like you?" Greg sealed another kiss over the man's lips, giving him a wink as he turned back towards the kitchen.

"He's awake, Greg." Tyler called over to him from the stroller.

"You didn't wake him up, did you?" Greg knelt down in front of the toddler, getting an innocent look out of Tyler. She didn't know that he'd wake up right away; she just wanted to try so she'd have somebody to play with. "Good Morning, sleepy head. Nice of you to finally join us." Greg carefully unstrapped the straps holding Colt in the stroller, so he could lift him out into his arms. Colt immediately started crying from the rude awakening, filling the once silence house with his cries. "Ooh, c'mon baby." He climbed to his feet, pressing a kiss to the toddler's little forehead. "Aww, did Tyler wake you up?"

"I didn't mean to." Tyler anxiously chewed her fingertips, following Greg over to the counter as the toddler continued to cry.

"It's okay. He'll be getting hungry soon anyway." He sat his toddler against the counter, while he searched through the box beside him. He found one of his sippy cups near the top, along with a blue plastic plate from the next cupboard to put some food on. "Mom, where'd you put the fridge box?" He spotted her walking towards the kitchen.

"Already unpacked it," She opened the fridge door, showing him that she had neatly put away all the food for him. "Good Morning, sweetheart." She took her grandson off his hands, gently pecking kisses to his forehead. "Oh dear, somebody's a little cranky this morning." She spoke softly, smoothing her palm up and down the child's back. "Greg honey, do you want me to do that?"

"I can make a sandwich, Mom." He set the things he needed on the island in the middle of the kitchen, giving the woman a smile as she calmed down his toddler's tears within a few seconds. "You always have the magic touch."

The woman giggled softly, reminding him, "My first job as a day care assistant, I made all the babies cry the second I even went near them. They were too scared to even let me hold any of them. I thought it was a sign that I was going to be a terrible mother."

"Best mother I ever had." He repeated his usual statement, getting a grin out of the woman. "You don't mind looking after him later, do you?"

"Of course not." Jean took a seat on the chair behind her, sitting her grandson on her lap. "First day in your new house, and you've already missed half of it. Don't worry, you didn't miss much." She wiped away the child's tears from his cheeks, pressing another kiss to his forehead.

Colt rubbed the sleep from his eyes against his Nana's chest, realising that they really were in their new house. He reached his hand out as Greg made his way around the counter, handing him his sippy cup that was now filled with water.

"You haven't safety proofed yet?" Jean noticed that the cutlery drawer just slid right open, as Greg reached into the drawer for a knife.

"Nope, we haven't gotten around to it yet. Colt's nearly old enough to know, and we're always with him at the moment, so he's not likely to hurt himself." Greg cut the sandwich he had made into little triangles, before he cut the crusts off. He made his way around the island, handing the plate to his toddler. "Cheese and tomato. I haven't figured out how to use the grill yet," He motioned over his shoulder towards it. "So it's not grilled."

"Thank you." Colt spoke softly, handing him his sippy cup, while his Nana held the plate, so he could eat his sandwiches.

"You're welcome." Greg pressed a kiss to his forehead, before he turned back to the island. "Do you want anything, Tyler?" He asked her, starting to put everything away. Tyler shook her head, still full after the big breakfast her mother gave her this morning. "Mom?"

"No thank you, honey." The woman shook her head, giving her husband a smile as he carried Colt's high chair into the kitchen. "Did you find the missing piece for the crib?"

"Yeah, Nick found it rolling around the back of the truck." Daniel leant the folded high chair against the wall, pressing a kiss to his wife's cheek, before he made his way back to the truck outside.

"They lost a part of the crib?" Greg gave his mother a curious look.

"Only one of the bolts that allow the side to slide down. They put all the bolts and things in a bag, but it broke when they pulled out the table. They've found them all now though, so there's no need to worry. You'll be using it pretty soon, after all." She gave him a wink. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

"I have a headache. But I'm okay." He returned to the boxes he hadn't finished unpacking yet, continuing where he left off.

As soon as Colt finished his lunch, he wanted to get down and explore. Tyler and his Nana Jean followed in his footsteps towards the entrance hall, where the men were moving a cabinet into the front room.

Colt followed them into the front room, curious to see what his Daddy was doing. He curiously watched them from the other side of the room, until they had the cabinet set up where they wanted it. He weaved between Nick's legs as the man climbed to his feet, reaching his arms up to the man so he could lift him up.

"Mornin', sleepy head." He swept him into his arms, clutching him tightly against his chest. He pressed multiple kisses to his son's delicate little cheek, feeling that his diaper was wet. "Where'd Papa put that bag?" He carried him through the house, searching for the diaper bag that they brought over in the car.

"Auntie Jean, can we go outside now?" Tyler begged the woman, wishing Colt was a little older so they could play with her.

"Yeah." Jean led her over to the back door, taking her first look at the large garden outside. "Wow. You could put a jungle gym or something out there. Swings, a cute little side." She turned to look at her son, asking, "Do you remember that jungle gym that we had out back? Your father and Papa Olaf built that. We took it down when you were a teenager, but we had a lot of good memories on that thing. Maybe Daniel and Nicky could build one here. Make your own memories."

"Nicky really isn't the construction type." Greg informed her, taking a seat at the counter with his own sandwich. "Hi." He smiled at his partner in the doorway.

"Hey, where's the diaper bag?" Nick asked him, gently patting his son on the back.

"Um..." Greg looked around the room for it, giving the man a shrug. "I had it on the stroller last. Maybe in the playroom?"

"Okay."

"Hey, do you want anything to eat?" Greg stopped him from walking away. "I can make you something if you're hungry."

"Nah, I'm good for now." He pressed a kiss to the younger man's cheek, giving him a smile as he turned for the door.

Colt wriggled in his arms as they reached his playroom, excited to see all of his toys in one room. He hadn't actually seen the new house since the very first day that they toured it, so it all looked shiny and new to him.

Nick set him down on the carpet, finding the diaper bag beside one of the boxes of toys. He took a seat on the floor, playfully tugging his toddler towards him. "C'mere, yah little monkey." He lay his son flat on his back on the floor, so he could change his diaper for him. He didn't think that it was worth putting him in his big boy pants for the day, as they were all a little preoccupied and couldn't ask him every few minutes if he needed to use the potty. "What are you lookin' at?" He leant over the toddler, blocking his view of whatever he was looking at.

"The planes." He pointed to the stencilled planes on the ceiling that Greg had painted himself. He liked to point that little fact out, even though he had just painted them through a stencil that he bought.

"Cool aren't they?" He pulled his son to his feet, pressing multiple kisses to his forehead, before he buttoned him into his jeans. "Wait till you see your bedroom." He swept him into his arms, taking him through to the kitchen to dispose of the dirty diaper. "I saw that, Greg." He smiled at his partner, catching him eating a bar of chocolate, right after the sandwich he had just had.

"I'm hungry." Greg covered his mouth while he chewed, offering his partner a bite, but he never ate any kind of sweets. "Blame your unborn child."

"It's too early for cravings." Nick chuckled softly, adjusting the toddler in his arms. "Do you wonna come up with us to show Colt his new room?"

The younger man nodded, disposing of his wrapper in the bin, before he followed the two of them up the stairs. Greg hurried on ahead of them, giving the door a drum roll knock with his knuckles, before he pushed it open.

Instead of saying anything though, Colt just looked around the room in amazement. Some of his things were still in boxes around the room, but it was still more amazing than his old bedroom.

Nick set him down on the carpet, letting the toddler explore his new surroundings. He stared at the colour of his walls a moment, before he turned to look at everything else open mouthed. His fathers had bought a small play table for his room, covered with his crayons and a pack of paper for his drawings. He always used to use Greg's coffee table, which was now covered in blue, green and orange scribbling's, so this was perfect for him and would save their new coffee table in the long run.

"Do you like that?" Greg knelt down beside him, giving him a smile. "It was Daddy's idea. For all your colouring and painting."

The toddler walked around the play table towards a comfy chair that used to be in the front room at their apartment, giving his fathers a curious look.

"It's so I can still read you your stories in it, it's just up here now." Greg explained to him, pointing to the flat pack box that was against the wall. "That's your new book shelf in there. We're going to put it against this wall, then you pick a story to read every night and we'll sit in this chair while we read it."

"Where your room?" Colt felt a little anxious to be in a huge bedroom by himself.

Nick opened the door behind him, pointing to their bedroom right across the hall. The hall was a little bit wider than the one back at the apartment, but their rooms weren't that much further apart. "We're right across the hall from you." His father assured him. "You're right next to the bathroom too, so you won't have so far to travel to use the potty."

"I don't need go."

"Not now, but you will do eventually." Nick knelt down beside him, pointing his attention to his brand new bed. "You're gonna sleep in your new comfy bed tonight. You wonna try it out now?" The toddler gave him a nod, nervously making his way to the side of his new bed. He couldn't quite climb onto his new bed by himself yet, so Greg had left his stool beside the bed, so he could use it to climb into bed at night.

Colt crawled across the bed towards his pillow, before he crashed out on his back. He spread his arms out across the bed, making his father smile as he looked ready to fall asleep right now. "Papa." He reached his hands out for the man, wanting him to join him. "We sleep here night?"

"We can't all fit in your bed." Greg pointed out to him, kneeling down the other side of his son's bed. "Besides, Daddy always hogs the covers and you roll too much. We wouldn't last five minutes." He climbed onto the bed next to his son, laying himself down beside him on the cramped little bed. "We could all sleep in our bed?"

"Greg." His partner gave him a stern look.

"Just for our first night in our new house." Greg gave the man a puppy dog look, knowing he'd cave eventually. "It won't be just the three of us for very long." He reminded him as he rubbed his hand across his stomach. "I could be pregnant with the Stokes quintuplets for all you know."

"Twins are common in my family, but I highly doubt you're expectin' quints."

"I thought there was only one set of twins." Greg gave him a curious look, secretly hoping he wasn't expecting twins. He felt huge with just the one baby inside him the first time around; he didn't think he could handle having two growing inside of him. "How many twins are there?"

"My sisters Vicki and Ronnie are fraternal twins. My sister Lillian was an identical twin, but her twin had problems with her heart. She only lived for about three days. Her name was Lauren." He revealed a secret to him that Greg hadn't been aware that he was keeping. "My Mama miscarried a set of twins. She was a twin herself. Her brother was born two minutes before her, and he never let her forget it. She has older twin brothers and my Dad's family has loads of twins too. One of my great grandparents was a triplet. Identical twin girls and a boy."

Greg rolled his eyes, wishing he had known this before. "That piece of information would have been nice to know earlier. With that, all the twins in my family and the fertility shots I've been taking, we really could be expecting quintuplets."

Nick shook his head at him, leaning across their little boy to press a kiss to the man's forehead. "Don't get yourself worked up over nothin'. If it really is twins, we'll deal with them when they come. I'd be happy if we managed to conceive one healthy baby. We'll find out today."

"You didn't do anything to this baby, Nicky." Greg knew that he had that on his mind, but he wasn't worried about it himself. He knew that the cancer couldn't have been passed on, even if their doctors couldn't give them a straight answer on that. "If anything, it's my side of the family that we have to worry about. Pregnancies in my Mom's and Dad's side always have problems."

Sucking his fingers into his mouth, Colt turned his head to the side, looking at his father Nick beside the bed. He didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, but the sounds of their voices were comforting to him.

"We have one healthy baby." Nick placed his hand over his child's chest, feeling his little heart beating against his hand. "If anythin' happens... we'll find a way through it together. Just like we always do."

"C'mon, Daddy." Greg patted the bed beside his son, wanting a moment alone with his family, away from the chaos. "Lay down with us a minute."

"Callum and Daniel will be wonderin' where I am." As he saw the familiar puppy dog look, Nick reluctantly climbed onto the bed beside them, propping himself up on his elbow against the pillow. "If we break this bed..."

"Stop worrying, Nicky. Your forehead doesn't need any more worry lines." He teased him, brushing his fingertip across the man's head.

"Daddy." Colt reached his hand out for his father's hand, before he reached for Greg's beside him. He held their hands together over his chest, curiously looking at the differences between their fingers.

"I'm scared." Greg admitted to his partner, looking into the man's eyes. He couldn't tell him earlier as his family was all around them, but now that they were alone, it seemed like the perfect time. "Every time anyone mentions this baby, I just feel even more scared. I didn't know about Colt until it was too late. All I could really do then was just let him grow and wait for the big operation at the end of it all. Now I know exactly what's going to happen, I'm terrified."

"You're allowed to be scared, Greg." His partner slid closer, looking at the two people he loved most in the world in front of him. "I'm scared too."

"It's not really happening to you."

"No, but a lot of stuff has happened to me, and I think I sorta know what it's like to be in your position. Unable to control somethin' that's happenin' to you, I know what that's like. If you don't want this, it's not too late to..."

"No." Greg stopped him there, placing his hands on his stomach. "I want this baby, Nick. You'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers if you want to take it away from me. I'm just... scared. I want to be excited like I was with Colt, but I'm just really scared and you're all making it worse by being super protective and getting all excited about it. Now I feel bad, because I'm ruining it for you."

"You're not ruinin' anythin', baby." He gently placed his hand over the younger man's stomach, whispering, "I'm scared too, but I'm excited about today, when we actually get to see our baby for the first time. You said it yourself; you didn't feel as though you could really love our baby, until you saw him on the monitor for the first time. Maybe you'll stop bein' so scared once you see this little guy or girl for the first time too."

"Don't you think that it feels wrong that we're even having a baby?" Greg whispered, looking into the man's eyes. "We still haven't, you know... slept together. Not really. And we won't be able to once this starts getting bigger." He indicated towards his stomach. "It'll be over a year before we even get to."

"It doesn't have to be." Nick looked at his son between them, relieved that he was preoccupied with his watch in his little hands. "It's our first night in our new house." He licked his lips, getting a smile out of his partner. "I know we do everythin' backwards, but we'll get there. I love you, Greg; you're the only person that I've ever seen myself with. I'd sleep with you right now, but we have a house full of your family. Especially with your Mom here, she still calls you her little boy."

"I know, it's a little icky." Greg agreed, taking Nick's watch off their little boy's hands to take a look at the time. "We should leave in a few minutes. I don't know the way to the hospital from here, and parking is a nightmare." He rolled off the side of the bed, leaving Nick to lift their son into his arms.

"Hey, don't be scared, Greg. We're in this together, all the way." Nick lifted their son onto the floor, letting him explore his way to their bedroom across the hall. "Whatever happens, we'll always have each other." He circled his arms around his partner's warm body, holding him close against his chest.

"That doesn't stop it being scary. Up until this point in my life, the most scariest thing I've ever had to do was walk into Grissom's office."

Nick chuckled softly, rolling his eyes at the younger man, "I never understood why you're so scared of him. He's not exactly a scary person."

"He used to be." Greg defended himself, pulling out of the older man's arms. "Intimacy with you used to be scary too. You were Nick from the lab, the gorgeous Texas ladies man that could have anybody he wanted, but you were sleeping with me. Whenever you kiss me, I still get butterflies in my stomach. I'm scared of the dark, driving alone, people in hoodies, even the lab scares me. Telling me not to be scared of this baby growing inside me isn't going to make me stop. I get scared, Nick. I can't just bottle it all up and show a brave front like you do."

"I don't want you to." Nick took a step closer towards him. "I want you to tell me when you're scared, so I can be there for you. I get scared, just because I don't show it; it doesn't mean that things don't scare me. I'm scared that you'll get bored of me, because I can't... because I can't get it up for you. I feel like I'm broken and I'm scared it'll affect how you see me."

"How I see you will never change." Greg gave the man a smile, feeling those familiar butterflies in his stomach. "Do you know why I love you? Besides the obvious good looks that you've got going for you. I love you because you're the first person in my life that I can really talk to and you really listen to every word that I say. We spend more time talking then we do anything else. I've read a few fiction stories on gay guys, and they're all about sex and getting each other off twenty four seven, but the most amazing thing that you do with me is talk. I don't care that you can't get hard or orgasm with me at the moment, because your voice is what I love most about you."

Nick nervously smiled back at him, feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks. "You've never told me why you loved me before."

"I didn't realise it myself until you were gone. What I missed most about you was talking with you," He took a step closer, placing his hand on Nick's flushed cheek as he looked into his eyes. "I rang your voicemail practically every day for the first year, just to hear the sound of your voice. If I thought of something to tell you during the day, I'd lie awake at night, trying to imagine the conversation that we'd have. I've never had a relationship where I could really talk to someone before, and that's what I missed most about you."

"I know that sex isn't everythin', but a relationship without sex is just... friends." Nick shrugged, feeling guilty again because it was his equipment that was failing their relationship. "More than anythin', I want you to be happy, Greg."

"Then stop worrying about it, because I am happy with you. I know we'll make it, because we haven't had sex in... well there was those forty two months that you were gone, now the past seven or eight months that you've been back. If we can last that long and still be this close, I'm pretty sure that we'll still be together until the till death do us part of our marriage." He looked at the older man's lips poised in front of him, whispering, "You could lose your good looks, your hair, your balls..." He gave him an apologetic look, but it had to be said. "But I'll never stop loving you. Nothing you could lose would ever make me stop."

"I'm supposed to be comfortin' you." Nick pointed out to him, feeling a little emotional himself now.

"That's why we're so great together; we help each other out all the time." He grinned at him, slowly licking his lips, before he leant forwards for a tantalizing kiss that brought goose bumps to the back of his neck. He wanted to tell him that he loved him again, just in case the message still wasn't clear to him, but Nick had sandwiched him between himself and the wall, turning their kiss into a passionate make out session to christen the house.

Even though he still couldn't get hard, Nick felt those familiar tingles running in the right direction, giving him hope for the future.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One:**

After setting the last box in the entrance hall, Nick made his way back outside, finally closing up the back of the truck now that it was empty. He felt a sense of relief now that it was finally over, even though he knew that he still had unpack everything and assemble a lot of furniture, before the place really felt like home. He wiped his hands down himself, finally pushing the front door closed behind him. Now that the light wasn't shining through the door, he could see boot prints all over the entrance of their house, making him suddenly want to clean it.

He had put a sheet down to soak up some of the rain from outside, but it didn't quite do its job.

Realising he didn't have time to start cleaning up, Nick made his way through to the kitchen, tapping his watch as he stepped up beside his partner. "We better get goin' for your appointment."

"Have you seen, Colt?" Greg handed him the car keys, while he pulled on his sweatshirt.

"He was with your Mom, wasn't he?" Stepping up to the window, Nick realised that Jean was out in their courtyard garden, alone, tending to the flowers. "Where's Tyler?" He stepped out of the kitchen to search for the kids, trying to think where he last saw them. He found Daniel and Callum in the front room, figuring out where all the wires went for the television and things in there. "You seen, Tyler?"

"She was in the playroom with Colt last." Callum pointed him across the hall.

Nick made his way to the playroom, but that was empty too. He was starting to panic now, wondering where they could have got to. He couldn't believe they had lost two kids in their new house already.

They hadn't even been here a whole day yet.

The anxious father hurried straight for the stairs, relieved to see his toddler halfway up the stairs. He was crawling on his hands and knees, excited to do it himself for the first time. They had lots of stairs back at their apartment building, but he had always been carried up and down them. He had never been allowed to climb them himself before, so he was enjoying his first freedom to be able to do so on his own.

"Where you goin', bud?" Nick walked behind him, helping his son to his feet on the last step. "We're gonna have to put that safety gate up later. We don't want you to hurt yourself on the stairs." Sweeping him into his arms, he pressed a kiss to his toddler's little cheek, getting a smile out of him.

"I climb dem." Colt pointed to the stairs.

"You did, well done." He carried him through to his bedroom, finding Tyler sat beside the play table, while she coloured in her picture she had been drawing. "Tyler, you wonna bring that downstairs to the playroom, so your Dad knows where you are?"

Tyler gave him a nod, while she collected up the crayons she had been using. She hurried down the stairs ahead of Nick, making her way into the playroom as instructed.

"He was climbin' the stairs." Nick handed his partner their baby. "Diaper's wet." He pointed out to him, searching for where he put the diaper bag that he had earlier.

"You were climbing the stairs were you?" Greg gave his son a playful tickle, getting a giggle out of the little boy. "I told you not to go near them. Daddy's gonna put a gate on them soon, so you won't be able to climb up them anymore, yah little monkey."

"I careful." The child insisted, looking round at the door as his Nana came back in.

"You've got some nice flowers out there." She wiped her feet on the mat, giving her grandson a wide smile as he looked her way. "I'm surprised the last owners managed to keep most of them alive in this heat. There's no sprinklers or tap out there to water them. And I doubt you'll remember to water them." She teased her son. "What are you gonna do with them?"

Greg gave her a shrug, "Nick's domain. I'm not really an outdoor person."

"Maybe you can make a small play area out there." The woman suggested, lifting her grandson out of his arms. "You can keep an eye on your kids while you're cooking or something in here. Put a lock on that gate so they can't get out. You could even get a dog?"

"Ohh, Nicky wouldn't like that." Greg sucked in a sharp breath.

"I thought you said he grew up with dogs?"

"On a ranch, but you know what he's like with his cleaning. He won't want a dog in here." He gently rocked his toddler in his arms, wishing he could take him with him to the doctor's.

"Shouldn't you be heading off to your appointment?" His mother noticed the time.

"Yep, Nick's just looking for the diaper bag." Greg stuffed his phone into his pocket, taking the diaper bag off Nick as he made his way into the kitchen.

"I can do that." Jean took the bag off his hands, ushering the two of them out the door. "Go on, go. You're going to be late for your appointment at this rate. Make sure you get one of those sonogram pictures. I want to see my next grandchild before we head back home. Maybe get an extra one, so I can show it around back home."

"Okay." Greg gave her a smile, pressing a kiss to his toddler's forehead. "Be a good boy for Nana. We'll be back before yah know it." He reluctantly left his child, following in Nick's footsteps towards the door. "I'm really nervous." He held the man's hand, walking with him towards the car. "Are you?"

"Yeah, but I'm excited too." He leant forwards, pressing a kiss to his partner's lips. He quickly pulled back as he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye, surprised to see a woman stood at the end of their driveway. She looked a little shocked to see the two of them kissing, but that didn't stop her from advancing towards them.

"Hi, I'm sorry to disturb you." She made her way towards them, with a wide smile on her face. "I'm Evelyn Hale. I live right across the street." She pointed to her house that was directly opposite their own.

"Greg." The younger man introduced himself first. "And this is my... Nick." He pointed to the man beside him, not sure how to introduce him to people now. He couldn't still call him his boyfriend, not after everything that had happened to them.

"Hi." Evelyn shook each of their hands. "Oh you have children?" She noticed the child seat in the back. "How many?"

"Just the one." Nick answered her, feeling the younger man tense up beside him. He didn't usually like to give intimate details about their personal lives to complete strangers, so Nick decided to give her a few details to satisfy her curiosity. "We have a three year old son."

"Aww, that's a cute age. I have five children. They're fourteen, eight, six and twin two year old girls. Three girls and two boys in total. Anyway, I don't mean to keep you. I just saw that you were moving in today and I wanted to be the first to welcome you. Shame about the weather, but that doesn't mean you can't have a sunny smile for this special day." She smiled warmly at the two of them, before she handed them the flower pot from her hands. "Sunflowers. I grow them in my garden."

"Thank you." Nick took the flower pot off her hands, not sure what to say to her. He didn't really like flowers himself, but he wasn't about to hand it back to her.

"Thank you." Greg gave her a smile in return, waving her off as she turned to make her way back to her house across the street. "Think we freaked her out?" He turned to look at his partner beside him. "She couldn't look us in the eye after she saw us kiss."

"So," Nick shrugged, setting the flower pot by their front door, before he opened the passenger side door of his car for his partner. "She seemed nice enough. She probably has her hands full with five kids. She won't have time to worry about the gay guys across the street."

Greg giggled softly, slumping into the car. He pulled his seatbelt on, placing his hands on his stomach as his partner started up the car. He felt butterflies fluttering around in his stomach, not sure if it was his nerves or the baby. He reached across the car to hold his partner's hand, relieved that he wasn't going to go through this alone this time.

It may have been over three years since he was last pregnant, but it only felt like a couple of months ago to him.

Once they reached the doctor's office, Greg started to feel a little queasy. As usual, the waiting room was full of pregnant women or women with gynaecological problems. Paediatrics was on the same floor, so the other half of the waiting room was full of babies and young children, waiting to see their doctors too.

"C'mon," Nick found them some seats, holding Greg's hand tightly in his own as they sat down. He looked across the waiting room at the little baby's, getting more and more excited to finally see his own on the monitor. "Stop bitin' your lip." He smiled at his partner beside him. "Don't be so nervous."

"I can't help it. I am really nervous."

"What have you got to be so nervous about?" Nick tried to understand, wishing there was some way that he could help him. "We're just gettin' a check up of the baby's first few weeks. And we get to see what he or she is like at the moment. There's nothin' to be nervous about." He gave him a wide smile as he clutched his hand a little tighter. "Relax baby, everythin' is gonna be okay."

Greg forced a smile in return, wishing he could stop feeling so nervous, but the feelings wouldn't go away.

The nurse eventually called his name, leading the two of them to his regular doctor's office. Doctor Jordan had already taken both of their medical histories down, so he just needed to check Greg over to make sure that he was still healthy, before he could check on the fetus to see how it was progressing.

Nick took a seat while the tests were going on, cringing as the nurse took two separate samples of blood from his partner's arm. Greg didn't seem too bothered by it, but Nick couldn't stand the sight, even though he had seen much worse in his years as a crime scene investigator.

"Alright, hop up on the bed." Doctor Jordan put his tape measure away, after measuring his patient's stomach. He got his nurse to turn the lights off across the room, so he could start up the ultrasound to get them their first picture of the baby. It took a moment to find the baby, making Greg fear the worst as he couldn't see a thing. "There we go." He moved it further to the left side of Greg's navel, finding the sac where the baby was growing. "Can you see it?"

"It's so tiny." Greg reached out for Nick's hand beside him, pulling him closer so he could get a better look.

"That's the baby lying at the bottom there." His doctor pointed to the little white blob in the bottom, before he moved in for a closer look. "This round part here is the head. It's still a little alien like at the moment. There's the heart beating." He focused on the flickering part of the baby. "These faint pointy parts here are the arms and legs. Baby's head is right against your abdomen, so its legs must be back near your spine."

"Is that okay?" Nick asked him, placing his arm around Greg's shoulders.

"Yeah, they move around a lot in the early stages. It's basically just like a swimming pool in there for them. When they're this small, they can still move anywhere they like. It's as they get bigger that they can't move as much, then we have to worry about the baby being in the right position for delivery. But not in your case, Greg."

"There is just one in there, right?" Greg double checked, hoping that all his talk earlier was just mindless babbling and not a prediction. He thought that it would be cool to have twins, but he really didn't think that he could handle it at the moment.

The doctor did a double check for himself, before he gave his patient a nod. "Yep, just the one." He assured him. "Let's get a few measurements, and I'll get you guys some good pictures to take home with you." He moved his mouse across the screen of the ultrasound, trying to get some measurements of their baby, before he took a few pictures. "Would you like to hear the heart beat?"

"Yeah." Nick immediately answered, hearing the amazing sound of his baby's heart beating from the machine. The sound alone brought tears to his eyes, feeling as though he had just heard the most beautiful sound in the world. "Is it alright?"

"Yep, that's a nice strong healthy heart beat there." He managed to get them a side picture of the baby, getting them a good view of its little arms coming out the sides of its body. "You see this dark cloudy bit coming out here." He pointed their attention to something else. "That's the umbilical cord that connects you and baby together."

Greg smiled at the image of his baby, feeling more excited now that he could actually see the baby on the monitor.

"What about the bleedin' he had?" Nick had to darken the mood with his worries.

"You haven't had any bleeding since your last appointment with me, have you?" Doctor Jordan asked his patient, while he put away the ultrasound device. "Some people have some bleeding all through their pregnancy, but it doesn't affect the baby. You had some light spotting at six weeks, but haven't had any since, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. We couldn't find anything wrong with you then, and you're still perfectly healthy and the baby is growing fine. Unless you have anymore or any pain, I wouldn't worry too much about it." He gave Greg some tissues to wipe his stomach, before Nick helped him to sit up. "We'll arrange your next appointment for sixteen weeks. Unless you have any problems, I'll see you then."

"Okay." Greg slid off the table, relieved that it was finally over. He took what he needed from the doctor, before he made his way out to the car with Nick. Even though the thought of multiple babies made him terrified of the whole situation, he was a little disappointed that there really was only the one inside of him.

"We need to grab some food before we head back." His partner opened the passenger side door for him, giving him a smile as Greg was a million miles away, looking at the pictures of his baby in his hands. "Hey," He wrapped his arm around his waist. "Are you alright now?"

"It looks so different." Greg held up the picture to him. "I was expecting to see another, Colt. But they're so different already." He turned to look at Nick beside him, asking, "What if it doesn't like me?"

"You're adorable." He hugged him against his chest. "You're givin' this baby life, love, a home, how could it not like you? Or love you even. There's nothin' wrong with you bringin' a baby into this world, Greg. Life is the most amazin' gift in the world, and you're the most amazin' man I've ever met to be able to do this for our baby. He or she will love you, just as much as Colt loves you. Just as much as I love you."

Greg closed his eyes as the man kissed him, realising that he was probably right. "What's wrong with me?" He suddenly shouted, pulling away from Nick. "I never used to be like this. I used to be able to stand strong on my own. Now I feel as though I can't do it unless you're at my side. You've turned me into... mush."

Nick chuckled softly, even though he was slightly confused by what he had just said. "Mush?"

"Yes, mush. I'm a gooey sticky mess without you." He smiled at him, realising how stupid that sounded. "I never knew what love was, until you turned me into this. Don't get me wrong, I like it. I love being with you and planning for our future. I'm just still scared that you're going to walk out on me, especially now." He placed his hands on his stomach. "I'm mush. If you leave now, I won't be able to keep it together for Colt or this baby."

"I'm not goin' anywhere." Nick took his hands into his own, giving out a sigh as he looked into his eyes. "I know I've hurt you in the past, but you can trust me now. I'm not goin' anywhere. I had no idea what I was walkin' out on before. I have a son now. We're about to have another baby together. We have this amazin' new house to build memories in, why would I go?"

"I don't know." Greg shrugged, backing away from the man. "How could you leave me in the first place?" He asked him. "Maybe if you had never of found out about Colt, you wouldn't have stuck around. It's hard to believe that you really love me that much, when you could have just walked out on me like that. It doesn't matter that you didn't know about Colt, you still left us. You left me. Did you even stop to think about how I would feel? Did you even care that you hurt me?"

Instead of answering his questions, Nick gulped hard, wishing they had waited a while to get pregnant, so he wouldn't have to deal with all of these questions in Greg's over emotional state.

"If you really loved me, you wouldn't just leave me like that. Give me my car keys. Give them to me!" Greg reached his hand out to the man, snatching them from the man's hand as he removed them from his pocket.

Before he broke down into tears, the younger man pushed him out the way, making his way round to the driver's side door. He quickly drove away, leaving Nick behind at the hospital. He didn't care that he had left him alone or without a ride, he just didn't want to be around him right now.

"How'd it go?" His mother greeted him at the house, immediately noticing that he had returned home alone. She watched her son kicking off his trainers, before he breezed past her towards the stairs. She could sense that something had happened at the doctor's, as Greg made his way straight up stairs, rather than looking for Colt.

"Where's Nick?" Daniel joined her in the entrance hall, giving her a curious look. "What?"

"I don't know." Jean shrugged, ushering him back into the front room. "Let's give him a few minutes." She feared that her son had lost the baby or something, putting him in the bad mood that he was in now. From her own experience, she knew that he'd probably want to be alone for a while.

At least until he came to terms with it himself.

Making his way up the driveway, Nick involuntary shivered, wishing that he didn't have to do this. It was too late to turn back now, and he didn't think that he could walk for much longer. He gave the front door a knock, anxiously biting his bottom lip as he waited for someone to answer.

"Uncle Nick," His niece opened the door to him, surprised to see him after all this time. "When did you get back?" The fourteen year old gave her uncle the once over, realising he hadn't aged a day since the last time she saw him. He used to be her favourite uncle when she was eleven. They were more like brother and sister than uncle and niece, but a lot had changed since then.

"A while ago." He shrugged his shoulders together, looking into the house. "Your Mom home, honey?"

"No, just me and Nikita." Trish stepped back, ushering the man inside. "Where's your car?" She noticed that his truck wasn't in the driveway, neither was any other kind of car.

"I walked." He wiped his feet, closing the door behind him. He was beginning to feel like that coma patient again, as his niece was all grown up now. She was still just a little kid when he last saw her, now she was growing into a beautiful young woman. "When will your Mom be back?"

The teen shrugged her shoulders, leading him through to the kitchen where her sister was sat in the highchair. "She's taken Owen to his swimming lesson. She usually hangs around for the whole lesson, otherwise he throws a fit. Did you want me to ring her?"

"No, it's okay." He shook his head, looking at the baby in the room. She looked much bigger than the last time he saw her. She was only seven months old when he got back, now she had to have at least been a year old. "Were you havin' lunch?" He motioned towards the sandwich things that had been left out.

"Yeah, just about to." Trish stepped around the counter, feeling awkward around the man she used to look up to. "Um... do you want something?"

"No, I'm fine." He assured her, looking at the watch on his wrist. Just looking at the clock face brought chills to his spine, as though Jean was somehow keeping watch over him constantly now that he was wearing the watch she had given him. "You mind if I wait for your Mom?"

"No." Trish shook her head. "What's wrong?" She queried, sensing he wasn't going to tell her anyway, but it was worth a try. "I'm not a kid anymore, Uncle Nick. You and my Mom never exactly got along before, so why the sudden rush to talk to her now?"

Nick took a seat at the island, not really sure himself. "She's closer... distance wise. And she's family. I really need family right now."

"Then what am I?" She asked him. "Do you think I'm not mature enough to deal with your adult problems?"

"Well, there's a teddy bear on your t-shirt." Nick pointed out to her, getting a smile out of his niece. "I think you're very mature for your age, but I'm lookin' for advice, not someone to discuss my adult problems with."

"Mom has a liquor cabinet in the front room."

"I don't need that." He smiled at her, resting against his elbow on the counter. "You had a boyfriend yet?"

"Got one." She declared, retrieving her cell from her pocket. "His name's Dale. Why'd you look at me like that?" She stopped as she noticed a look in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"Sorry, in my mind you're still eleven. Still playin' with Barbie dolls and askin' me to push you on the swing." He looked at the child he had missed growing up, feeling like a bad father again. "I guess it's weird to see you suddenly grown up. I used to change your diapers."

Trish giggled softly, taking a seat opposite him. "My Mom said she used to change yours."

"She did, and she never let me forget it either." He looked up at her, giving her a smile. "I'd give anythin' to be your age again. That way I can start over."

"Won't it be a little boring, since you already know exactly what's going to happen? And by changing the past, you'll change your future. You might have never even met Greg, because of some crazy butterfly effect thing."

He chuckled softly, shaking his head at his niece. "What have you been watching? I didn't mean literally. I don't want to rewrite anythin' really, just the past three years. I shoulda been there."

"Why weren't you?" She leant on the counter in front of him, waiting for some kind of explanation, but he couldn't even explain it to himself, let alone the man he adored. "When my Mom got pregnant with me, my Dad ran away. He said he didn't feel ready to grow up and take care of someone else at that point in his life. But he came back before I was born. He still hasn't grown up that much, he just has kids to take care of now."

"I didn't even know I had a child." Nick reminded her. "If I had known, I wouldn't have left. I've always wanted a child."

"Didn't you want Greg?" The teen tried to understand his complex grown up life. "If I wanted to be with somebody, I wouldn't leave without them. I only met Dale a month ago, but I wouldn't move away without telling him."

Instead of giving her an answer, the man looked down at his hands, realising now why the younger man was so upset. He was only thinking of himself when he left. He hadn't given a single thought to how Greg would handle his sudden disappearance. Now Greg was in the exact same position he was before and he was terrified that he was going to walk out on him again.

Just like he always did, Greg gave the first push, trying to spare himself a little of the pain later on.

"I should go home." Nick climbed to his feet, getting a smile out of his niece as she did manage to help. "Do you babysit a lot?" He motioned towards her younger sister.

"Yeah, I get paid for it too. I'm gonna take a course in childcare or something. I love babies, but I really wonna work with kids." She explained to him. "Why, do you need a babysitter?"

"Greg's lookin' for a new babysitter for Colt. And we're..." He didn't think he should disclose their news to her, but he knew he could trust her. "Well, we're expectin' another baby in a few months. So we might need a new babysitter. Our last one is takin' up a full time college course, and we don't really know anyone in our area..."

"Sure." She quickly grabbed for a pen and paper, writing down her cell phone number for him. "My Dad usually drops me off and picks me up, so you won't have to worry about that. I'll even give you family rates." She teased him, quickly grabbing a hug from her favourite uncle. "I missed you, Uncle Nicky. Thanksgivin' isn't the same without you back at the ranch. Are you goin' this year?" She pulled back from him. "Are you? Please, Uncle Nicky. I won't tell anyone about the baby, I swear."

"Thanks... but I," Nick looked at his watch, realising that it was only a week away. He doubted that Greg would want to go with him or that his mother would even want him there after he disappeared. "I don't know, honey. I haven't exactly been invited. I really need to stay here and patch things up with Greg. It'll be our first family holiday together."

Trish pouted her lip out at him, reluctantly letting him leave. "I guess Christmas is out too then. Hey did you know that Leah is pregnant?" She suddenly remembered, sending chills down the man's spine. "Seven months."

"Leah? But she was..." Nick sighed softly, realising he had missed her growing up too. His brother's daughter, Leah was barely thirteen when he last saw her, now she was old enough to get pregnant. She was the youngest daughter of his older brother, and the only one that didn't get to spend any time with her mother. "She still livin' with her Dad?"

"No, she's with Grandma Stokes now. Has been for the past two years. Uncle Billy remarried again and the new wife was butting heads with the teen in the house. Leah decided to move out on her own. When she first got pregnant, Grandma Stokes was trying to make her marry the father of her baby, but he didn't want anything to do with her." She gulped softly as she realised that comment hit home for him. "You can see her at thanksgiving if you come over."

"Nice try." He smiled at her, backing himself up for the door. "I need to patch things up with Greg. See yah, kiddo."

"Bye." His niece waved him off, wishing that he could just come back for thanksgiving.

Nick made his way straight home, preparing himself for an argument as he made his way up the driveway. He felt as though he deserved anything that they threw at him, but he just wanted to be alone with Greg to reassure him that he wasn't going anywhere.

As soon as he entered the house, he heard the familiar sound of his son crying. He followed the sound into the kitchen, feeling goose bumps tingling their way up his arms as he immediately saw the blood. "What happened?" He made his way over to Greg, trying to see what was wrong. He was stood by the sink with his baby in his arms, trying to comfort him while Daniel dabbed at his wound.

"He was running around with Tyler. He slipped on the floor out there and bit his lip." Daniel motioned towards the entrance hall behind him. "Jean was ready to call an ambulance, but we managed to calm her down." He wiped his grandson's chin again, giving out a sigh of relief as his lip had finally stopped bleeding. "Maybe we should put some ice on it?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna get him some clean clothes." Greg handed the toddler over to his father, before he brushed past Nick in the doorway. He took the stairs up two at a time, heading in the direction of his son's bedroom.

"Greg." Nick followed him in.

"Please Nick, no more apologies." The younger man pulled away as he tried to reach out for him. "Let's just blame it on my hormones and put it behind us." He grabbed a spare t-shirt and sweatpants for his son, before he turned back to the door.

"Greg, wait..." Nick tried to stop him.

"No Nick, I don't want to hear it anymore. I know you're committed to Colt and this baby . . . I just wish that you were that committed to me."

"I am." Nick insisted, but the look on Greg's face said that he didn't believe him. "I can prove it to you." Tugging the college ring off his finger that he had never taken off, Nick stepped forwards, taking Greg's hand into his own. "I'll get you a real one, but this has been with me half my life. More than that actually."

"But it's yours." Greg pulled his hand away from him.

"Now you're mine too." He grabbed his hand again, sliding the ring into place on his partner's finger. "And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't know any other way I can prove it to you, other than always bein' there for you. This ring has been bound to me practically all my adult life . . . now I'm givin' it to you." He smiled at him. "I can't change what I did, but I can be there for you for the future. Even if you didn't have Colt that day that I first saw you, I would still be here, because I love you more than anythin' in the world. I'd give my life for you."

"Nick, I can't." Greg went to pull the ring off, but Nick's hands stopped him. "But I..."

The younger man looked down at the ring on his hand, giving out a smile as he felt the warmth of his partner's ring enveloping his finger. Even though he had never worn a ring before, the ring currently residing on his finger felt as though it had always belonged.

He immediately stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around Nick's shoulders. "You don't have to get me another ring; this one is perfect. It means something, it's not just a ring from a store, it has a past. A meaning to both of us." Greg reminded him that he was a huge fan of history. He immediately leant forwards, sealing a delicate kiss over the man's lips. "I'm sorry you have to put up with me, Tex."

"It's not that bad." Nick smiled back at him. "I adore you. I never want you to feel the way I made you feel again. I really have to change how I do things. Usually you have the weddin' before the baby, but maybe..." He knelt down in front of the younger man on one knee, giving him a warm smile. "Will you marry me before this second baby?"

"Nicky..." Greg looked around at the house they still hadn't unpacked, giving his enthusiastic lover a wide smile. "Yes, but when would we have the time?"


	22. Chapter 22

**This is as far as I got before my computer died on me. I hope you enjoy those three chapters. Please let me know what you think. I don't think the spelling is too bad on these three, but let me know if you see anything so I can fix it.**

**~ Holly**

**Chapter Twenty Two:**

Watching the crystal clear waves caressing the pristine white beach, Nick involuntary shivered, feeling as though he was dreaming this whole thing up. When he clicked a link on the Magic Weddings site, he had no idea that he'd really end up on one of their romantic destinations to celebrate his special day with elegance and simplicity. The cost of having a quickie wedding at home seemed a bit extreme, so they started looking into holiday destination weddings.

In Greg's condition, they didn't want to fly too far for just one day, so they decided to look into holiday destinations that were close by. The second they started searching, Greg had his heart set on a beach or a boat wedding. It cost more to rent a boat for the wedding, so they picked the beach.

"Again, Papa." Colt squealed in excitement in the distance.

Nick turned his head, smiling as he watched Greg lifting their son into the waves. They held one another's hands, counting to three, before they jumped over the next wave. Instead of making their wedding a one day event, they decided to make a real Christmas vacation of it. Catherine wasn't too pleased about losing a CSI for a week or so, but she did offer to pay for their honeymoon suite.

Insisted, actually.

It was the least she could do after she opened her mouth to Greg's mother, letting her know exactly where they were going and when. They planned on doing it alone, just the three of them, but they ended up bringing half of Greg's family with them.

"I feel sick." Tyler held her stomach, while her mother tended to the twins on the beach towel. Courtney was trying to put sand in her mouth, while her brother continued to whine every time his mother put his hat back on his head. "Mommy."

"One second, sweetheart." Chrissie quickly brushed away the handful of sand Courtney had, before she adjusted the little hat on Connor's head. "Callum, can you watch these two for a sec?" She motioned towards the twins, leaving her husband in charge of them, while she tended to her daughter. "You think maybe it has something to do with those clams you had? I told you not to eat them. Just because your father wanted to try them..."

Tyler couldn't hold it in any longer. She bent over, placing her hands on her knees as she wretched her lunch up onto the white sand.

"Oh dear," Chrissie placed her hand on her child's back, gently smoothing her palm up and down. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me."

Greg smiled at his aunt as he carried his toddler back up the beach. "So much for the romantic destination." He giggled, pressing his chest against Nick's as he kissed him. "Are you excited about tomorrow?" He grinned widely, beginning to glow from the excitement of this whole week. "We are, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Colt shouted, pointing at a wave beginning to form in the distance. "Daddy, look."

Nick slid his hands beneath his son's arms, lifting him out of his partner's embrace into his own. "Not quite windy enough for surfin'. We could try the snorkelling later though."

"With a toddler?" Greg gave him a curious look. "He can't even swim yet."

"Not too early to start." Nick smiled back, taking Greg's hand in his own. "Are you ever gonna take that t-shirt off?" He motioned towards the shirt he was wearing. Everyone else was in swimsuits or shorts, while Greg was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. "I gotcha out here to see you in a swimsuit. If I wanted you to wear clothes, I'd have taken you some place colder."

"I look fat." The younger man brushed his hands down his round stomach. At sixteen weeks, he looked as though he had swallowed a balloon. He also didn't want to take his t-shirt off, because he had thick purple stretch marks beginning to form on his sides. "I am wearing clothes tomorrow, right?" Other than the fact he was having his wedding on a beach, he didn't know any of the other details, especially what the two of them were wearing.

Nick had planned the whole thing over the past six weeks, without any help from his mother in law.

"Yeah, it's not a nude beach, so they wouldn't let you walk down the... sand naked." The older man chuckled, setting Colt down so he could go and play with Callum and the twins.

"Can you give me a few of the details?" He begged him.

"No, it's a surprise. Which means you're not meant to know anythin' about it, until you see it for yourself on the actual day," He chortled, pulling the younger man in for a hug. "Just wait and see Greg, that's the fun in the surprise part."

"What have you got me wearing though?" Greg pulled back from him, sounding even more self conscience of his changing body. "If I don't like it, do you have other options?"

"Why would I pick somethin' that you don't like? I want this day to be special for you, I'm not goin' to ruin that by makin' you wear somethin' you don't like. C'mon," Nick entwined their fingers together, playfully tugging Greg in the direction of the beach, so they could walk along the sea shore. "You've just gotta kick back and trust me on this one, G."

"I do trust you." The younger man smiled round at him, feeling butterflies in his stomach. It could have been the baby, but he was pretty sure that it was from the way Nick kept looking at him. "You got me all the way out here didn't you? I haven't taken a vacation in... I don't know how long. I can't even remember the last one that wasn't at home or in California."

"From now on, we'll take at least one a year." He entwined both of their hands together, stopping a moment to look into his partner's eyes. "I love seein' you in the day light. I haven't seen you in the daylight in... ever."

"I saw you in day light once or twice. You used to look like a golden prince, with your beautifully bronzed skin."

"So I don't anymore?" Nick smirked, making the younger man blush.

"Well you are paler, but you're still a prince." Greg quickly recovered, pulling the man closer against his chest. "You know I think you're tanning already." He feathered his fingertips down his partner's sides, grinning widely as he looked into the man's beautiful chocolate brown eyes. "Think we can skip the scuba diving and head back to the hotel?"

"Seein' me in swim shorts does it for yah, huh?" He smiled against his parted lips. "We can't leave Colt with Chrissie and Callum the whole afternoon. They've got their hands full with the twins and Tyler."

"We'll go find my Mom in the spa then." He giggled, smoothing his hand across Nick's taut stomach. "I wonna be alone with my fiancé for a little while. You've only been my fiancé for the past six weeks, and we haven't spent a moment alone together yet."

"Will you take this t-shirt off then?" He playfully tugged at the rim. "I wonna see you in swim shorts. That's why I brought you here."

"When we're alone," Greg nodded, gently nipping at the man's lips poised in front of him. "We don't want to give the people on this beach another reason to hate us. They've already watched us kiss." He looked at the people around him, feeling their eyes burning into him.

"What other people?" Nick placed his hands on the younger man's cheeks, looking deep into his eyes. "There's just the two of us here."

Greg smiled back at him, allowing him to kiss him again. He took a second glance at the beach around them, realising that none of them were actually looking their way. The beach wasn't even that crowded, so it really was just the two of them.

"Maybe we could put Colt down for his nap a little early." Pulling his partner closer against his chest, Nick pressed their lips together, feeling their baby pressed between them. They had their sixteen week scan just before they left, confirming that everything was okay, so the two of them were a little more at ease now. "He only had an hour yesterday."

"Okay." Greg agreed, pulling away from his lover. "I'll go get him. You get our stuff."

Nick gave him a smile in return, watching the beautiful pregnant man walking away. He still felt warm swirls in his stomach when he was around the younger man, giving him a touch of nervousness and excitement at the same time, that made him feel alive again.

He made his way back to the hotel with his partner, helping him to put Colt down for his nap, so they could have a couple of hours to themselves. Before they could do anything alone though, Greg had to grab himself something to eat, despite having just had a three course meal for lunch.

"Sexy look." Nick smirked, dropping back onto the bed as his partner walked in, stuffing a sandwich into his mouth. "Do my weddin' vows have to include the clause I'll love you when you're fat and round?"

"Shut up." Greg playfully kicked him in the leg, before he straddled his partner's thighs. "You better love me when I'm fat and round." He leant closer, pressing his pregnant stomach against his partner. "It's gonna happen sooner than you think."

"For a good reason though." Nick slid his palms across the younger man's bare thighs, feeling him shiver as his hands reached just under his shorts. "I've never exactly been a chubby chaser, but this beautiful baby bump you got goin' for yah is really sexy."

"How sexy?" Greg feathered his fingertips down the older man's chest, grinning as he squirmed in front of him. "We have lift off." He whispered softly, motioning towards Nick's shorts.

The older man couldn't feel a thing, so he thought that Greg was just trying to make him feel better. As Greg's hand dipped beneath his shorts, he really felt the stiffness of his lower appendage though. It wasn't quite as hard as his partner's, but it was better than the nothing he had been feeling down there for the past three years.

"What do you think we'll be like ten years down the line?" The younger man whispered, as he combed his fingers through Nick's gorgeously soft hair. He was relieved that it had all grown back. It was starting to feel thicker and more luscious than it used to. "Think we'll be too old to have sex then?"

"In ten years?" Nick smiled against his lips. "I'll be... fifty and you'll be forty six. That's not old."

"You're right, but we'll probably be too busy with our thirteen year old son, and our ten year old child to have sex. You might have even found someone better looking than me by then."

"Better lookin' than you? I don't think that's possible." He chuckled softly, brushing his thumb across the younger man's chin. "You're gorgeous."

"It could be possible in ten years. I won't exactly be your type anymore."

"Why not?" Nick gave him a confused look.

"You've always liked the young good looking guys. Ever since I met you, your type has always been a twink. You liked me because I was like those young guys that you used to look at between the pages. I won't be like that in ten years or so." He expressed his biggest fears to him, hoping he wasn't going to laugh at him for it. "You're not gonna wake up someday and suddenly fancy an old guy with gross stretch marks."

"I'm not gonna wake up someday and suddenly stop lovin' you, either. We're gonna grow old together. Why would I suddenly stop lovin' you, when I've seen you every day since? Some part of me will always like the idea of a hot young twink, but that fantasy image has always been you. You'll always be younger than me. And you'll always be my type." He put his arms around his partner, bringing him in for a passionate kiss. "I love your stretch marks. I love every inch of you." He whispered, reaching his hand beneath his partner's t-shirt. He feathered his fingertips across the smooth skin, wondering if the baby could feel his hand. "What does it feel like?"

"Extra weight." Greg shrugged, pulling up his t-shirt slightly. He placed the older man's hand against the side of his stomach, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. "I sometimes feel these little flutters. Like my stomach is doing summersaults or something. With Colt, I felt him kicking a few times. That felt weird. It feels like something on the inside is poking you. It's hard to describe unless you feel it for yourself."

Nick smiled in return, smoothing both of his hands round to the younger man's spine. "I love you."

Leaning closer, Greg joined their lips together, slowly pushing Nick backwards onto the bed. He didn't want to crush him under his weight, so he rolled onto the bed beside him, giving Nick some room to breathe. "Do you want to?"

His partner responded by rolling closer, moving his hands to Greg's hips so he could loosen the strings from his shorts. He kissed him as he pushed them down his legs, feeling the younger man's heart racing against his own. "Are you cold?"

Greg shook his head, easing the older man's shorts down his own legs. "I'm nervous."

"You don't have anythin' to be nervous about." Lifting Greg's t-shirt up over his head, Nick tossed it aside, leaving his partner naked in front of him. Instead of speaking again, Nick decided to make it just like their first time. He pulled the covers over them both, gently nipping and sucking at his lips while he caressed his warm body with his hands.

Nick replicated their first time almost perfectly, bringing his partner to the brink of release, without actually letting him get that far. During their first time, Greg was shaking with nerves, causing Nick to stop as he feared that he might be forcing him into something he didn't want to do. As soon as he did pull back though, the nervous young man took over, making Nick feel something he had never felt with anyone before.

Today was no different.

As soon as he pulled back, Greg moved closer, keeping his lover's warm body against him. "You're still hard." He whispered softly, amazed that his partner had managed to keep it this long. He quickly rolled over, going for the bedside table, before the opportunity passed them by. "Do you want to?" He rejoined Nick, holding out the familiar packet to him.

"Yeah. I mean... if you want to."

"I'll take that as a yes." Greg grinned at him, sealing a kiss over his lips.

Lifting the covers, Nick gave his partner a smile, letting him do the honours. He flinched slightly as Greg touched him, reminded of the memory of every doctor that had examined him since he first got sick.

"It doesn't... you know... hurt the baby, right?"

Greg shook his head. "Not as far as I know. I've got the same basic uterus as a woman, which is designed to protect an unborn baby. So I doubt the baby would feel anything. Not to ruin the mood, but there's this thick mucus plug that seals the cervix, so the traces of chemo in your body isn't likely to harm it either." He tried to assure him, wondering if his partner would even last that long.

"Nice." Nick cringed, leaning up on his elbows to watch his partner. "How about we leave the talk about your uterus, women, cervix and mucus at the door?"

"Okay." The younger man giggled. "If you think about it, it really is like our first time. I wouldn't stop talking about that floating dead body that Sara..."

"Greg." Nick stopped him there, feeling his skin crawling again. "Can you just stop talkin'?" He pressed a kiss to his lips, holding him securely against his bare chest. "I feel like I don't know how to do this anymore. And you're makin' me even more nervous with all your squicky talk about mucus and floatin' dead bodies." He admitted, feeling like a virgin all over again.

"Easy as riding a bike, except you're riding me." He smirked at how he worded his sentence. "That came out wrong, but you get what I mean. Kiss me; it'll come back to you." Rolling over onto his back, Greg lifted his knees off the bed, waiting for his partner to do the rest. "C'mon baby, it's just me and you." He teased his fingertips down his chest, giggling as Nick immediately took the bait. "You're too easy."

"You're too sexy. I'm powerless around you." Nick whispered back, covering Greg's lips with his own. He gently nipped at his lips, feeling it starting to come back to him like the younger man had said. It was a little harder with his current handicap and Greg's increase in size, but it felt like a first time again.

Gulping hard, Greg looked out at the bamboo ceremony structure, the large white parasols and something called seashell aisle treatment that really just looked like a bunch of seashells lining a walkway. He had to admit that it did look really nice, but he couldn't go out there like this. He closed the curtains to his cabin, turning his head to look at himself in the mirror again.

Nick hadn't picked out something that would humiliate him in front of everybody, but it wasn't exactly flattering to his figure either. It wasn't a tacky Hawaii shirt in Hawaii, but it was a Hawaii style wedding t-shirt. It had a v-neck that didn't go down too far and sleeves that stretched just over his wrists. It was also a nice crisp, pure white that would have looked pretty good, had it not been for the bulge in his abdominal region.

The pants were nice too.

White, baggy, but not too baggy, just enough to make him look stunning stood in the middle of a beach with his Texan cowboy. He only wished that the top half of him looked that stunning, then he wouldn't be so terrified of what was about to commence.

"I don't know how you can sleep through this." He made his way over to the bed, where his toddler was fast asleep. They brought him over from their hotel room in the morning to have breakfast, but he fell asleep shortly after that, snoozing softly while the chaos of the day was starting to unravel.

He took a seat beside the sleeping little angel, gently brushing his fingers through his messy hair. He was a perfect image of the man he was about to marry, making him even more eager to marry the man. He couldn't wait to see what their second baby looked like or even their third or fourth. There wouldn't be a reason to stop once they were married.

Marriage would finally cement them together.

"Greg. These ribbons keeps slipping out." Tyler made her way through from the adjoining room, holding up the long white ribbons to him. Her mother had already tied her hair back into pigtails, but she had left to get the twins ready back at the hotel, without putting the ribbons in her daughter's hair.

"C'mere." Greg pulled back the chair from the dressing table, sitting her down. He took the first ribbon off her hands, kneeling down beside her while he tried to make a perfect bow. "You like this dress?" He motioned towards the white dress she was wearing that had a very simple design to it.

"Yeah, Nicky let me pick it myself." Tyler smiled at him, leaning back as her cousin pulled her hair tight. "When I grow up, I hope I marry somebody like, Nicky."

"Thought you said you never wanted to get married or have any babies?" He reminded her, taking the second ribbon off her hands as he moved round the other side of her. "Did you change your mind already?"

The child shrugged her shoulders together, sliding off the chair as soon as her cousin was done. "Did you know where my Mommy and Daddy met?"

"Yeah, your Mommy and Daddy went to Highschool together." Greg remembered the story well. "Your Mom didn't have a date to the prom and your Dad was too scared to go in alone. They met in the car park when your Mom decided that she had enough."

"She trod on my Daddy's foot as he held the door open for her." Tyler laughed. "Daddy said it was love at first ouch."

Greg giggled with her, lifting her back onto the chair as he realised she had missed a few buttons in the back of her dress. "My Mom and Dad said they hated each other when they first met. My Mom was a control freak and my Dad was doing everything wrong. He just stood back and took it, while she gave him an earful all the time."

"She still does." Tyler giggled, jumping down off her chair once her cousin was done. "Will Nicky be my cousin too?" She asked him. "Will he buy me presents for Christmas too?"

Greg laughed, shaking his head at her. "Knew you'd think of that one. Think you can scam a few more dresses out of him?"

"No, I want rollerblades this Christmas." She grinned at him, running for the door as she heard a knock. "Auntie Jean, will Nicky be my cousin now?"

"Well, yeah I guess he will." Jean nodded to the child, stepping around her into the room. "Sweetheart, are you ready to get going?" She smiled as she saw what he was wearing, starting to well up with tears again. "Oh honey, look at you. You're a vision in white." The woman chuckled, before she threw her arms around his shoulders to hug him tightly.

"Mom." Greg squirmed out of her embrace. "I look fat. I need a bigger size."

"I think Nick's intention was to show off your beautiful baby bump." Jean pointed out to him, taking a look at the material for herself. "It's very nice. Much nicer than my own wedding outfit. Wait till you see what Nicky is wearing. You haven't got Colt ready yet?" She noticed her grandson sprawled out on the bed in his pyjamas.

"No, I didn't want to wake him up yet." Greg grabbed his son's little outfit off the dresser, handing it to his mother. "Here, you can do the honours. I have to go to the bathroom again."

"Auntie Jean, can I dress him?" Tyler jumped at the chance to dress a baby. Her own mother wouldn't let her do anything for the babies in her house.

"Let's wake him up first." The woman set her bag down beside the bed, so she had her hands free to tend her grandson. "C'mon, sweetie." She playfully tickled his stomach, lifting him off the bed as he started to stir. "Oh I know, Greg used to hate waking up too." She gently patted him on the back, while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Are you ready to get dressed?" She pressed multiple kisses to his little forehead, before she set him down on the bed again. "Do you remember what day it is today?"

Colt wasn't quite lucid enough to answer questions, so he just lay still on the bed, not giving his grandmother any fuss as she changed him out of the diaper he had slept in. With the help of Tyler, his grandmother dressed him into his cute little outfit for the ceremony. Like his father, his outfit was all white. An all white t-shirt and baggy white trousers, with a cute little pair of sandals to walk through the sand.

"Greg honey, c'mon we gotta go." His mother called out to him, lifting her grandson off the bed into her arms. She made her way over to the bathroom door, giving it a knock to see if he was okay. "Sweetheart, you need the mouthwash again?"

Greg struggled to his feet, pulling the door open to his mother. "I'm sick of this morning sickness."

"Well, that's the whole point in it. Hence the reason why it's called morning sickness." She grabbed the bottle of mouth wash for him, handing it over again. "Are you sure that it isn't just your nerves. You didn't have any morning sickness yesterday."

"I didn't eat anything yesterday. Whenever I eat, I throw up." Her son pointed out to her, making his way back into the bathroom to brush his teeth again.

"They'll fall out if you brush them one more time." His mother warned him, chuckling softly as she was always hassling him to brush his teeth when he was younger. Now she couldn't get him to stop. "C'mon honey, you're going to be late for your own ceremony at this rate."

"At least I'm keeping up tradition." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, giving his mother a smile as he stepped past her. "Dad said you were an hour and twenty minutes late for yours."

"I had a little mishap with the dress." She defended herself, ushering Tyler towards the door. "C'mon then, let's get going."

"Wait, wait." Greg grabbed the pot of hair gel off the dresser, stopping his mother from leaving the room. He combed his gel covered fingers through his toddler's hair, brushing it into a cute little Mohawk down the middle of his head. "Okay, now we're ready." He lifted his son from his mother's arms, pressing a kiss to the adorable little boy's cheek, before they made their way off to the ceremony on the beach. "Mom, I think I'm gonna be sick again."

"Don't be so silly." She took the toddler off his hands, straightening his top for him. "Go on, off you go. Nick's waiting for you." She gave him a gentle push in the right direction, while she made her way to their seats with Tyler in toe.

Greg walked down the seashell aisle alone, feeling his stomach gurgling as he got closer and closer to the man he loved. He wanted this moment to be the happiest moment of his life, but he felt as though he was about to throw up again.

"Hi." Nick whispered, taking the younger man's shaky hand into his own once he was close enough. "You alright?"

Greg could only shrug, unsure wherever he could even speak at this point. His happiness right now was beginning to feel as high as a rollercoaster, making him fear that the eighty mile an hour free fall was just around the corner.

He missed the beginning half of the ceremony, trying to focus all his energy on not throwing up, but he perked his ears up as his partner started to speak.

"I, Nicholas Parker Stokes, do take you, Gregory Hojem Sanders," The Texan slid the titanium wedding band onto his finger, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. "To be my husband, for as long as we both shall live. This is my promise to you, that I'll always be true to you, my heart will always belong to you. I'll stand by your side, respect you, comfort you and always... always be there for you."

Greg finally smiled back, feeling his stomach starting to settle.

"Greg," The woman at the front handed him a note card with some writing on it, along with the wedding ring that he was going to put on Nick's finger. "In your own time." She smiled at him, giving him a moment to read what Nick had written.

Greg gave his partner a curious look, before he read what was on the card. He thought for a second that Nick had written his vows for him, but it was just a reassuring note that said 'I promise to love you when you're fat and round, just as you loved me when I was sick and bald.'

The younger man smiled softly, slowly lifting his head to look his partner in the eyes. "I love you." He mouthed the words to him, getting a wide grin out of the man.

"Are you ready?" The woman in the light grey suit interrupted their moment, getting a nod out of the two of them. "Okay Greg, repeat after me..."

The ceremony continued with Greg's vows to his partner, while he slid the ring into place on his Texan's finger. They went with a simple design for the rings. Just an ordinary titanium band, with their names inscribed in each. They picked them out together, giving the rings more meaning to both of them, rather than just one of them.

By the end of the ceremony, Jean, Daniel and Greg's Uncle Callum were in tears, before they were even pronounced.

The second Nick's lips touched his own though, Greg felt like they were the only two people on the whole beach. He closed his eyes as Nick's arms snaked around him, holding him close against his warm body. He broke the kiss after a few minutes, giving his new husband a warm smile as his eyes slowly fluttered open. They still looked just like the wings of an angel to Nick, making him fall in love with him again, just like he did when he first saw him.

"I love you, Greg." The older man whispered softly, his lips spreading into an ear to ear grin. A smile that Greg hadn't seen in years. He put his finger to the younger man's lips to stop him from saying anything back, wanting this moment to be silent.

It was the first day of the rest of their lives after all.

Married life anyway.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three:**

"Thank you." The man handed over the sealed evidence to his colleague, giving her an innocent smile. "Can you get it back to me before seven? I'm heading home early tonight and Catherine will give me an earful in the morning if I ha..."

"Got it, got it." Wendy stopped him there, wanting to hear the inside scoop for once. "So, he took you to Hawaii for the week? What did you do? Did he take you anywhere nice?" Greg scratched his chin with his wedding ring hand, giving her a smile as she immediately noticed it. "He didn't?" She gasped, grabbing his hand to take a closer look. "No way, that's not fair. You can't get married without your friends."

"Catherine knew about it. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

"Why the big secrecy?" Wendy felt hurt that he didn't trust her with this. "You're supposed to celebrate this kind of thing with friends. Me."

"Sorry, I didn't even know about it until we got there. It was Nick's surprise to me. We didn't even have any of his family there, just some of mine." He defended himself, reaching into his back pocket as his cell started to ring. "Oh, that's Catherine, she's probably wondering..."

"Fine, go. It's not like I'm a real friend anyway."

"You are." Greg insisted, letting his cell go through to voicemail. "Technically, we're not even legally married here, so it's not like anything has really changed. It was just supposed to be something for Nicky and me, but then Catherine opened her mouth around my Mom." He struggled to explain to her, hoping she wasn't too hurt over it. He stuffed his hands into his oversized sweatshirt, asking, "Can I make it up to you by offering you the position of this baby's godparent?"

Wendy gave out a sigh, unable to refuse as he gave her the familiar puppy dog look. "Okay, but it doesn't get you off the hook that easy. I want to see the baby once it's born, not a few weeks later or something, right after. And I want to be on your emergency contact list."

"But Nick..."

"Wasn't there last time for you." She put it bluntly. "You didn't have anybody but your Mom last time. I'm not saying anything bad about him, don't get me wrong. I really want you and him to ride off into the sunset together, but just in case he isn't there. I want to be."

"Okay." Greg smiled at the woman. "But you're gonna have to fight Sara for the spot. She wanted to be there when the baby's born. I think she's considering having a baby with Grissom."

Wendy chuckled softly, suggesting, "Maybe with all that free time on her hands, she's beginning to hear the ticking of her clock of her expiring uterus a little louder. Do you know what you're having yet?" She quickly changed the uncomfortable subject, as she had been hearing the familiar clock herself lately.

Not actually a clock, but with everyone around her having babies of their own, it was a little hard to ignore the fact that she was older than most of them and still childless.

"Don't know." He shook his head, holding his stomach in both of his hands. "I don't want to know until they're born. Whoever he or she is, they better stay in there a few more months." It had only just turned January, and already he was beginning to feel nervous. The baby wouldn't be full term for a while yet, but the doctor had said that it would be viable by March, should they need to intervene.

"Hey, you managed to do everything right for Colt." She tried to reassure him. "I can't believe he's almost four . . . but you'll do the same for this one too. Probably better now that you have your loving husband at home."

"Actually, he's not at home today." Greg pointed up to the ceiling. "He's in an interview upstairs. That's why Catherine isn't down here. He's going for the lab supervisor job, so if you're lucky, he'll be your boss."

"Lab supervisor?"

"Yeah, it was Ecklie's idea. With the night shift, day shift and swing shift supervisor always out on cases and trying to manage their own teams, he thought it would be a good idea to hire an internal supervisor that was strictly bound to running the lab. He'll have to go to all the important meetings and things, but he's always wanted to be the boss of something. This way he'll be able to make changes that Grissom never could." Greg explained to her, tapping his watch as he backed away towards the door. "I gotta go see if David has managed to get prints off the Vic yet. Let me know when you're done with that."

"Okay." Wendy pulled on a fresh pair of gloves, getting on with processing the new piece of evidence for Greg's case. She didn't quite know all the details, but this piece of evidence looked like a blood covered tampon. She guessed that it was from the unknown woman they had yet to identify, which was probably why Greg needed it processed so urgently.

Greg quickly made his way through the hall back to his office, calling Catherine back from his desk to see what she wanted. She just wanted to remind him to keep checking in on the new recruits, as she was trying to keep him desk bound because of his current situation. He was just approaching his twenty week scan, but he still didn't think that it was such a big deal.

He made his way down to the morgue next, feeling the familiar nausea coming on again from the smell down there. He pinched his nose as he approached the door, almost getting hit in the face as the door suddenly flew open.

"Greg," Doc Robbins noticed him in the hallway. "You didn't have to come down here in person." He handed him the file from his hands, smiling as Greg just clamped his hand over his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from throwing up. "My wife was nauseous right through to her third trimester with our second. Whenever she went near scented candles, cleaning products or cooking meat, it was always the same."

Greg couldn't hold it any longer. He quickly made a beeline for the bathroom, barely making it to the sink before he threw up. He waited for his stomach to settle, before he spat the rest out from his mouth, wishing this part of the pregnancy would stop. He never had morning sickness the whole time with Colt, he couldn't even remember it, but with this one it hadn't stopped.

It made him fear that something was wrong with the baby, but his doctor, mother and Nick had assured him many times that each pregnancy is different and there's no point in driving himself crazy over every detail.

But they weren't the one carrying the baby.

As soon as he finished his shift, he made his way straight home, receiving a text message from Nick on the way. They were supposed to spend the night together, but Ecklie and Catherine wanted him to start working right away, so he could get the hang of it. He said he could still pick up Colt from his sister's on the way back, but he wouldn't be home in time to spend some time with him.

He wasn't too disappointed about it.

At least he still had some time to be with his baby.

Greg hurried straight upstairs to their bedroom, dropping to the edge of his bed. He pulled open the bedside drawer, grabbing the Doppler his mother had bought him and the lube that hadn't been used for anything over than this in a while. He lay himself down on his back, pulling his t-shirt up his chest. He usually let Nick do this, but he wasn't here yet, so he'd have to do it himself.

He squeezed a small amount of lube onto his stomach, using the Doppler microphone to spread it around, before he switched the device on. He anxiously waited to hear the familiar sound, giving out a sigh of relief as the heart beat started to sound through the device in his hand.

He placed his hand on the side of his stomach as he felt the baby kick, wishing Nick was here to experience it with him. His partner hadn't actually been able to feel the baby kick yet. It always stopped when he placed his hand on his stomach or only did it when he wasn't around.

Greg eventually fell asleep listening to his baby's heart beat, dreaming of the day he finally got to meet the little boy or girl that was currently growing inside of him. They still had so much to do in preparation for the new baby's arrival, but he wasn't worried about it. He figured the less he worried, the better this pregnancy would be.

When Nick finally returned home a few hours later, he dropped his keys and things on the side, so he had his hands free to carry his sleeping child up the stairs. Using the dim lights in the back of his car, he just about managed to un-strap his son from his seat. He still hadn't quite gotten the hang of all the fiddly little straps and things, but he thought that he was really starting to get the hang of the Dad thing.

Colt remained fast asleep against him, wheezing softly against his father's shoulder as the man carried him into the house.

After securely locking up his car and the front door, Nick carefully made his way up the stairs, taking his son straight to his room across the hall from their own. The covers were already pulled back, so he placed his little boy on his bed, getting him positioned in the centre, before he tucked him in. He still couldn't believe that he was really here or that he could have missed out on all of this. He felt as though having another baby with Greg would make up for the fact that he missed out on that part with Colt, but he knew that it wouldn't really. He never got to see Colt as a baby. He had seen photos of him, but it wasn't the same as the real thing.

It was the beginning of his son's life, a huge step that he had missed out on. He wasn't going to make that mistake with their next one. He wanted to be there for every step of his kids lives from now on. He took on this new job with that goal in mind. Catherine was a little sceptical on whether he'd be able to keep to it or not, but he knew he was going to prove her wrong.

His son's little heart beat pounding against his own was a good enough reason to keep to that goal. He finally knew what it was like to hold his very own flesh and blood in his arms and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that he had everything he needed, especially a father that was there for him.

Just like his own was for him.

Before he left the room, Nick pressed a kiss to his son's forehead, picking up a few of his toys off the floor as he made his way out. He left the door slightly open as Colt couldn't quite reach the handle yet, before he crossed the hall to his own room. He found Greg fast asleep on their bed, with the Doppler still in his hand and his clothes from work still on.

Kneeling down beside the bed, he moved the device across Greg's stomach for himself, until he found the heartbeat of their baby. He listened to the soft pounding for a few minutes, finally feeling the baby kick against his other hand. He had to admit that it did feel a little weird. It felt as though one of Greg's organs was kicking him, but amazing at the same time as he knew that it was the little life in there that was trying to get his attention.

As the baby kicked at his hand for a third time, a little harder this time, it caused Greg to stir.

"Shh, shh," Nick turned off the Doppler, pressing a kiss to the younger man's forehead as he soothed him back to sleep. "Don't wake up, it's just me." He spoke softly, watching the delicate angels wings flapping closed over his eyes again. "I love you, gorgeous." He whispered to him, sealing a kiss over the slumbering man's lips.

Once he was sure that he had fallen asleep again, he loosened Greg's jeans for him, making him more comfortable so he wouldn't wake up again. The jeans he wore to work now all had an elastic waistband attached to the top of them, supporting his ever expanding waist line. Nick did suggest that he started wearing sweatpants as they would be more comfortable, but Greg didn't really like wearing clothes that made him look fat to work.

Nick thought he looked good in anything, but as usual, Greg's mother won the argument and made him a pair of jeans with an elastic waistband to support his stomach.

This was when Nick realised that even though they were married, Greg was and always would be a Mommy's boy.

* * *

"Dahlia and Devon."

Startling himself awake from the familiar sound of his partner's voice, Nick rubbed his sleepy eyes open, not sure he heard the younger man right. He stretched his arms out like a cat, giving out a yawn, before he gave him a confused look. "What did you say?"

"Names." Greg pulled on a t-shirt, crawling back across the bed towards the pillows. He smelled just like his shower gel and his hair was still wet, indicating that he had just jumped out of the shower. "The names that I thought of the other day, but I forgot them when I wanted to tell you. They're the names I thought of if we ever have twins. Dahlia for the girl and Devon for the boy. What do you think? Cute, right?"

Nick continued to rub the sleep from his eyes, giving his partner a shrug in response. "They're alright, I guess. But we don't have twins. Much less a boy and a girl." He pointed out to him, feeling as though he had barely slept.

"I know, but if we did." Greg pointed out to him, swinging his leg over Nick's to straddle his hips. The sudden action caused the older man to cough slightly, not used to the weight of his partner sitting on his stomach. "I know, I put on another five pounds since yesterday. It must have been those pancakes that Sara made me eat. They were covered in chocolate, but I still ate them. She was grilling me for information again on baby's. Think she wants a little guy or girl of her own." He patted his belly, realising his t-shirt didn't quite stretch over his stomach anymore. "Can you wake up, please? I need your help. I have nothing to wear for my shift."

"It's not for another few hours yet." Nick motioned towards the clock beside him, realising Greg had woken him up at seven in the morning, meaning he had only been asleep for three hours. "Oh my God, Greg, you did it again." He grabbed his pillow beside him, covering his eyes with it. "I need at least four hours sleep. Or I'm a grouch, you know that."

"Sorry. I didn't even realise the time. I've been up doing some more chapters for my next book, ironing clothes... yeah, I actually did some ironing." Greg peeled the pillow away from his eyes. "C'mon Nicky, wakey, wakey. I need your help." He reached for the tub of cream off the bedside table, waving it around in front of the man's eyes. "Can you rub this across my belly? These stretch marks are a bitch."

"No." Nick pushed it away, trying to go back to sleep again. "And get off me, you're cuttin' off my circulation." He lifted his hips, trying to get the heavy lump off his hips.

"Grouuuch."

The younger man reluctantly climbed off the bed, getting pulled back to the bed as Nick grabbed the waistband to his sweatpants, tugging him back to the bed. He crashed back into the arms of his husband, feeling as though he finally had his Nicky back. He hadn't really been able to depend on him since he got back, but the sudden comforting embrace reassured him that he was going to be there for him this time.

"I love you."

"Love you too... now shh." Nick warned him, holding Greg tightly as he dozed off to sleep again.

Greg slipped out of his arms as soon as he fell asleep, making his way across the hall to wake up his little boy. Like his Daddy, Colt was a grouch when he got woken up early too, but he had to get him ready for preschool. "C'mon, sleepy head." He lifted him out of his bed, holding him against his chest as he struggled to his feet. He carried him down the stairs towards the kitchen, noticing the answer machine was flashing a message on route.

Hitting play, he immediately heard the familiar sound of his mother's voice,

"Hi sweetheart... it's me... Mom. I was hoping to catch you in. I was just calling to tell you that we won't be over this weekend. Your father's caught a cold and he doesn't want to give it to you, because of the baby or to Colt or Nicky, obviously. I think it's just a man flu... he's milking it as much as he can." She paused for a brief moment, trying to figure out what to say. "Um... anyway, I might be over during the week if you need any help. Just give me a call. You always do anyway, but just saying. I'll call you tomorrow anyway, just like always, but you know my number if you need help. Oh and I hope Nick's interview went alright. You'll probably let me know about it tomorrow. Your Dad sends his love. Okay... love you, bye."

Greg smiled to himself as his mother was never very good at leaving messages. She could talk continuously to anyone, but she always found it difficult to talk to a machine that didn't talk back.

"Papa." Colt started to fidget in his arms, reminding Greg that he was supposed to be getting him ready for preschool.

"Right, what do you want for breakfast?" He carried him through to the kitchen, sitting him down on one of the stools around the island. "You sure are getting heavy, kiddo." He playfully ruffled his hand through his hair.

"Toast." Colt climbed to his feet on the stool, reaching across the counter for his sippy cup.

"There's nothing in there, bud." Greg cautiously sat his son down again, fearing he'd fall off and hit his head or something. "Apple, orange or... I think we have blackcurrant." He made his way over to the fridge, grabbing the apple juice as his son seemed a little distracted. He had reached out for the crayons and colouring book on the island, getting back to his latest piece of art work. "What do you want on your toast?" He set down the fresh apple juice in a clean cup.

"The red one." The toddler immediately protested, noticing his juice had been given to him in the green cup. He gave out his usual toddler whine, that usually got him what he wanted.

"Ehhh." Greg playfully mimicked his whining, before he did as he wished. "I can't believe your Daddy managed to convince me to have another one of you." He teased him, handing him the red sippy cup. "What do you want on your toast then? We've got jam, peanut butter... hello, are you listening?" He waved his hand in front of the toddler's face. "C'mon bud, we've gotta get going. It's preschool today."

"Jam." Colt decided, getting a reminder look from his father's face. "Pwease."

"Good, boy." Greg pressed a kiss to his forehead, before he started on his breakfast. He quickly buttered the toast once it was done, spreading a decent amount of jam onto them, before he set them down in front of his son. "There you go, eat up. I'll be back in a minute. I'm gonna go get your clothes from upstairs. Don't move." He warned him, quickly hurrying up the stairs. He couldn't run as fast as he used to with the extra weight on front, but he eventually made it to his son's room, feeling a little dizzy and breathless.

He knew that it normal to feel a breathless during pregnancy, but he had never experienced anything like this before.

He ignored it for now, chalking it up to the fact that he hadn't eaten anything yet. He grabbed some clothes from Colt's room, hurrying back down the stairs to get him dressed. He washed his face once he had finished his toast, gave his toddler's hair a quick comb with his fingers, then carried him out the door to get him in the car.

The second he sat down in the driver's seat if his car, he breathed deeply, placing his hand over his chest as he felt his heart racing. He guessed that it was just because he had been rushing around, so he ignored it again, taking his son into preschool like he was supposed to.

"Blood pressure is fine too." His doctor removed the cuff from his arm, before he helped Greg off the bed. "Everything is fine. This dizziness you're feeling is probably just what you said, you're over exerting yourself. You really need to start taking it easy." He cautioned him again. "You're not going to do yourself or this baby any favours."

"I never really had to stop with Colt though. This baby isn't due until June, why do I have to start taking it easy now?"

"Because if you don't, you really could do some serious damage to yourself or this baby. And I wouldn't advise driving while you're having dizzy spells." He cautioned him, grabbing the phone from his desk. "Hello, can we organise a taxi for Mr Sanders, please? Thank you."

Greg rolled his eyes, reluctantly pulling his jacket on. "I need to get the baby seat from my car though. Colt finishes preschool at half two."

"I'll get one of my nurses to get it for you." His doctor reached his hand out for the younger man's keys. "While we're waiting, you and I need to discuss this c-section. Now the last time we scanned baby, they were lying transverse..."

"I don't want to think about the c-section yet." Greg objected. "You said that it's not viable until March, so can we talk about it then?"

"Yeah, sure." He folded his arms across his chest, studying his patient in front of him. "Are you alright, Greg? Emotionally, I mean. How are you coping at home?"

"Fine. I should get going. You can cancel that Taxi, I'll just call my Mom." He pocketed his keys, thanking the doctor for giving him an emergency appointment at such short notice, before he made his way outside. He dialled his mother's number as soon as he stepped outside, asking her to come get him as if he had just finished an after school club.

As soon as his mother's car pulled up, he climbed out of his car, going straight for her driver's side door so he could help her out.

"You sounded terrible on the phone." She climbed out of the car, pulling him in for a hug. "You look terrible too, what's the matter? Is it the baby?"

"No. It's me." He wiped his eyes. "I'm an emotional wreck. I need a shrink, not a medical doctor." He closed his eyes as his mother hugged him tightly again. "I'm in exactly the same position I was before, when I didn't have Nick and I'm terrified. The only difference is that Nick is going to occasionally be home this time around, but too tired to even rub cream on my stomach."

His mother couldn't help but giggle softly, gently smoothing her palm up and down her son's back. "Yep I remember all those worries and fears, comes with the territory I'm afraid. When I was two months away from giving birth to you, I had this sudden fear that your father was going to leave me. I went nuts asking where he was at all hours, complaining he wasn't home enough. You should get Nicky to talk to your father about how to deal with you during the last few months." She brushed her thumb through one of his tears, assuring him, "Everything is going to be fine..."

"Don't jinx it." He pulled away from her. "This baby isn't due until June, so can everybody please stop worrying? The doc thinks I'm working myself to death. Nick is always on my case about taking it easy, and you..."

"I'm not worried and I haven't said anything that I wouldn't normally say to you if you weren't pregnant." She took the keys off his hands, making her way over to Greg's car to get the toddler's car seat out the back. "I can pick Colt up from preschool. Nick can start taking him in the mornings and you need to take some time off work. You need to get the nursery set up anyway." She pointed out to him, setting up the car seat in the back of her own car. "I'm not worried, but I agree with the doctor. You need to take it easy. You'll never forgive yourself if anything happens to this baby. I know you better than anyone."

"Wish you didn't." He climbed into his mother's car, pulling his seatbelt on. "Mom... I'm scared." He admitted to her, anxiously fidgeting his left leg as he looked at her beside him. "Why did I ever agree to have a second baby or think that it was even a good idea? I'm terrified. I was terrified with Colt, now I'm shitting myself." He gave her an apologetic look for swearing in front of her.

His mother reached across the car for his hand, tightly weaving their fingers together. "You're not doing this alone. And you're not the only one that's scared. I was terrified when I was pregnant with you. I was even more terrified when you were pregnant with Colt, now that you're pregnant with a second one, I'm at my wits end."

"Thanks for your support, Mom."

"I haven't finished yet." She smirked, holding his hand a little tighter. "You really aren't alone in this. It's okay to be scared, but you need to tell us and share it with us. We're your family after all. We're going to be there for you every step of the way as much as we can, but you can't bottle this fear up. Have you told Nicky how you're feeling?"

Greg shook his head, wishing he could. "He's getting his life back together."

"And you are a huge part of that. He came back for you after all." She pointed out the facts to him. "You have to talk to him, sweetheart. Fathers... or partners even, they get a raw deal in bringing a child into the world. They don't get to experience any of the pregnancy for themselves. They have to put up with the mood swings and all that, then they're expected to support you through labour, which is really hard for them. Especially your father. He didn't know what to do with himself and felt as though everything was his fault in the delivery room."

"You said he was there for you the whole time."

"He was." She assured him. "He was just a nervous wreck because he didn't know what to do to help me and he was anxious to meet you. If you cut Nick out of the equation of how you're feeling right now, he's going to be even worse when it actually comes to the time of the delivery. He'll think that this part was a breeze compared to the delivery of his baby."

"My baby too." He placed his other hand on his stomach, giving out a soft sigh. "I know he's been back for a while now, but I still find it hard to trust him. I'm still scared that he's gonna stomp all over my feelings, like he did last time when he left me. My life isn't like some Hollywood movie that has a happy ending. My boyfriend..."

"Husband." She corrected him.

"My... husband. He could die at any moment or I could lose this baby or he might leave again. And I'll have to do it all on my own again."

"You should be telling this to your husband." His mother finally put the car in drive, taking him home to his husband. "Speaking of, how's he been doing lately? His interview was yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, he's home sleeping, so I don't know how it went. All his last tests were negative though. He's no longer anaemic either, so he's okay medically." Greg gave out a sigh of relief as he leant back in his seat. "He's getting on really well with Colt too. When he first came back, he was really anxious around him like he didn't know what to do with himself. Now he's just like Dad used to be with me."

"See, what are you so worried about then? If he's great with Colt, he's gonna be great with this baby too. He wouldn't want to miss out on this." She assured him. "So, have you thought of any baby names yet?"

"A few. Nicky likes gender neutral names, but I can't imagine calling my son Brook, Corey or Addison. They sound too girly to me. He said his favourite for a girl is Peyton, but I don't really like that either. He did suggest, Dallas, but the name screams stripper in my head."

His mother couldn't help but laugh. "Dallas is a beautiful name. I've always liked the name Dakota too, but I never had a little girl. What are some of your picks then?"

"Daphne's cute, but it doesn't really go with Colt. I want their names to sound similar, since they're going to siblings. I mean look at Nick's family. William, Lillian, Gwendolyn, Victoria, Veronica, Kayla and Nicholas. They all sound as though they belong together." He pointed out to her. "And since Nick and I have shortened names to four letters, just like Colt does, it makes sense to name the next one the same. We could have a little Jackson and call him Jack for short. Or an Elizabeth and call her Beth."

"You're Nana would be turning in her grave if she heard you were going to name your child Beth."

Greg remembered that his Nana Olaf lost her first boyfriend to a woman called Beth. Ever since that day, she had hated anyone with the name Beth for that reason alone, even though she never loved him as much as she did her husband at the time. "True, it was just a suggestion though." He reached into the pocket of his sweatpants, unfolding a list he had written out. "Here's my shortened list. I've got Shayla, Patrick, Chase, Noah, Finley, Tristan, Evan and Zackary." He flipped the piece of paper over, reading the next few. "Sydney, Brooklyn, Georgia..."

"Place names?" She suddenly noticed a theme. "If you did go with a place name, shouldn't you name them with some significant to your life?"

"What like Vegas?"

"Maybe not Vegas." She agreed with him on that one. "You don't seem to have many girls names there though. Besides the place names I mean. When you were picking for Colt, you have thirty girls names and barely any boys."

"I thought I'd have a girl." He defended himself, removing his seatbelt as they stopped in his driveway. "This time it feels like a boy again. I haven't told Nick yet though, so don't tell him and I don't know for sure either. I told the doctor not to tell me even if I beg him." He smiled at her, climbing out of the car. "Are you coming in?"

"Sure." Putting the car in park, she climbed out, following her son into the house. She was surprised to see it still looking so tidy, amazed that her son even knew how to use a vacuum cleaner. "I still say that you need a big family picture on that wall there." She pointed to the empty wall in the entrance as she followed her son through to the kitchen. She immediately noticed the mess in there, giving her son a smile as he started to clean up. "I remember the morning rush with you. A nightmare to get everything ready on time, aye?" She gave him a smile through her smirk.

"You're loving my torture a little too much." He warned her, clearing away the things into the dishwasher. He stopped as he started to feel breathless from all the bending down again, getting pulled aside by his mother to a chair. "Mom, I'm not an invalid."

"No, but you are pregnant." She took over to clear up. "This is your wake up call to take it easy. You can run around all you like once this baby is out, but not while it's still trying to grow and get its strength up to face the world." Putting the kettle on to make them some coffees, she helped her son with his jacket, before she started making them some sandwiches to get his energy levels back up.

Greg reluctantly retired to the sofa afterwards, randomly changing channels on the television, until he found something worth watching. He got bored of the day time TV really quickly though and decided to fold some laundry instead.

"Alright, I'm going to pick up, Colt." His mother appeared in the doorway. "Nick's awake. I've made him a coffee and I think he has something he'd like to tell you." She gave him a wide grin, before she stepped out the door to collect her grandson.

As soon as Nick made himself something to eat, he joined Greg in the front room, pecking a kiss to his forehead as he sat down beside him. "Afternoon, gorgeous." He set down his coffee on the table, while he relaxed back against the cushions behind him. "What you been up to?"

"I picked out some more baby names." Sitting cross legged beside Nick, Greg showed him the new list he had written out.

"I like that one." Nick pointed to one with half a sandwich in his mouth. "Aleka, is it?"

Greg gave him a nod. "I read it on this Mom's to be net forum. This woman from Alaska wanted to name her daughter with a similar name to where they're from and this other woman suggested, Aleka. It's cute isn't it?"

"Different." The man nodded, taking another bite of his sandwich. "That one's good." He pointed to another halfway down the list. "Raphy. Sounds like somethin' you'd call a dog outloud though. Ezra's cool." He pointed to another. "Doesn't go with Colt though. Milo might. Blake, Britton, Brody..." He read the other's, giving the younger man a slight nod as if he approved. "Rex is really cute." He admitted. "And cool as he gets older. Colt and Rex kinda go."

Nodding in agreement, Greg relaxed back into his husband embrace, putting the man's arms around him. "It's so hard to name something that isn't even here yet. It's like trying to name a puppy that you don't even have yet. You know you're about to get one, but you have no idea what it looks like, what it's gonna be like or how it'll fit into our family."

"Except it's a baby, not a puppy." Nick smirked, pressing a kiss to the younger man's neck. "How about..." He grabbed the list from Greg's hand, putting it down on the coffee table in front of them. "We forget about tryin' to think of a name for now and just concentrate on tryin' to get your strength up."

"My Mom told you?" Greg presumed, titling his head back against the man's chest. "Thought she would, she can't keep anything to herself." He moved Nick's hands across his stomach, so he could feel the baby moving inside of him. "You know I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise this baby's chance at a life. I don't even drink that much coffee anymore." He pointed out to him, getting a smile out of Nick. "This baby is a second chance for both of us."

Pulling him closer, Nick pressed his lips to Greg's cheek, giving him a smile as he held him tightly. "I love you, Greg Sanders."

"About half as much as I love you." He pressed a kiss to Nick's chin, before he climbed to his feet to get the door. He spotted his mother's car pulling up the driveway, with their toddler in the back. "He sleeping?" He watched his mother lifting him out of the back of her car.

"Yeah, he went straight to sleep as soon as I started driving." She handed the toddler over to Greg, while she grabbed his little backpack from the back of the car. "They said he didn't eat his lunch today, but he did have his snack."

"Okay." He carried his son through to the front room, gently placing him in Nick's arms, so he could finish his nap. Nick switched over to cartoons now he had his son his arms, gently rousing him from his nap with some of his favourite cartoons. "I swear this baby has moved today. They're sitting on my bladder." Greg left the two of them downstairs, while he hurried up to the bathroom again.

"Don't miss that either." His mother smirked, giving Nick a wave. "I'll see you tomorrow then, sweetheart. Good luck with the job."

"Thank you. And thanks for pickin' up, Colt." He thanked her again. He wanted to do it himself, but she insisted and he wouldn't dare defy her wishes.

"You're welcome." She smiled at him. "Bye, Greg!" She called up the stairs, hearing a faint reply from him, before she left.

The younger man hurried down the stairs a few minutes later, making his way into the front room where Nick was sat. "Look at this." He lifted his t-shirt slightly, taking a step closer to Nick. "Look."

"Is that a foot?" Nick smiled back at him, brushing his fingertips across the little bump just beside the younger man's navel. The impression on Greg's skin disappeared a few seconds later, before it reappeared again a few centimetres away from Nick's fingers. "Wow." He smiled in amazement, pulling Greg closer to press a kiss to his cheek. "Can't believe your Mom missed that. She'll be gutted." He pulled Greg onto the sofa beside him, sealing a kiss to his lips. "I can't wait for this baby now. But you really have to start takin' it easy."

Greg wasn't sure how long he would last at taking it easy, but he agreed anyway, not wanting Nick to worry about him anymore.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

** ~ Holly**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four**

His first day back on the job, Nick felt nervous that he was going to somehow screw it up or ruin his chances at ever getting back to where he was. He wasn't looking to work the field again, but he had only been in the office for under an hour, and already he was starting to feel bored. He attended his first meeting as the new lab supervisor a few minutes later, concerning the new crime scene investigators that they needed to hire to refill their ranks.

"As the lab supervisor, you'll be directly handling the new CSI's. I'd like you to conduct their reports and find out which areas they're best suited, so we can distribute them to our shifts that are falling behind." Lab director, Sam Harding directly spoke to Nick, before he turned his attention towards the shift supervisor's on the opposite side of the conference table. "Ms Willows, your shift in particular is severely lacking in CSI's at the moment. Two of your new recruits have quit already. One is about to take maternity leave and Miss Sidle seems to show up whenever she pleases."

"She's part time." Catherine defended her team. "And Greg isn't leaving yet."

"But he can't work the field in his condition." The man pointed out to her. "I'd like you to take him off shift. We'll switch him to the lab on swing shift. They're down a DNA tech at the moment. He can fill in until he takes his leave."

Catherine rolled her eyes at the man, looking towards Nick at the end of the table. She knew that Greg wouldn't want to strictly work in the lab from now on, but from the look on Nick's face, he agreed with Sam, so she had no other choice.

"As for Sara Sidle, unless she's planning on leaving again. I'd like to offer her the position of assistant supervisor for the day shift. Ms Lloyd here is about to take her own maternity leave," He motioned towards the current day shift supervisor, wondering what suddenly brought on this baby epidemic in the lab. "Miss Sidle can take over, until you get back."

"What about the night shift crew?" Catherine felt furious with him that he was splitting up what she had left of her team. "You're leaving me with one new recruit that has no field experience."

"Ms Lloyd currently has three, level three CSI's. David Daniels, Georgia Williams and Mark Hope. We'll be meeting with them later to discuss their hours and whether they would like to switch shifts. The same with swing shift, Mr Clark has two level threes and one level two CSI. We'll be dividing them all up per shift, making some room for the new recruits. Obviously when Tara Hale is well enough to leave the hospital, she will be offered another position to spread out the level threes. The same with Mr Sanders."

"Great." Catherine muttered, packing up her files once the meeting was over. She hurried after Nick down the opposite hall from where she was meant to be going, giving him a piece of her mind. "How can you just sit there and let them do this to us? Do you remember the last time they split us up?"

"That was different, this time you don't even have a full team to run your shift. It's the victims that suffer for it." Nick pointed out to her, beginning to sound exactly like the people he used to despise.

"What about Greg? He's not going to like being demoted."

"He's not being demoted. He's strictly lab bound at the moment anyway, so it won't really affect him. It's just until he takes his maternity leave. When he gets back, he'll go straight back to his job as a level three, field CSI."

"And Sara?" Catherine folded her arms across her chest, feeling betrayed by her former co-worker. "She only came back part time, because she wasn't sure if this was what she really wanted to do."

"They offered it to her yesterday." He informed her. "She said yes. This meetin' was just to inform the supervisors. Greg already knows too. He's fine with it."

Giving out an annoyed groan, Catherine turned on her heels, marching away from the man. She couldn't believe she had vouched for him a few days ago, in order for him to get this job in the first place. He was destroying everything already and it was only his first day.

Catherine made her way back to the lab floor, collecting her messages from the reception desk, before she returned to her team in the break room. "Greg, can I talk to you a minute?" She motioned out into the hall, watching the younger man struggling up from the sofa. His stomach had almost doubled in size already, when he was only five months.

He pulled his hooded sweatshirt down as they stepped into the hall, as if he was still trying to hide his baby bump.

"So, you're switching to the lab on swing shift?" The woman folded her arms across her chest, giving the younger man an accusing look. "When were you planning on telling me?"

Greg gave her a slight shrug. "They told Nicky yesterday. giving the heads up before the meeting today. It's only temporary." He quickly tried to explain. "Fewer hours and I'll be filling in for them, so you guys don't get all the back log onto your shift. Wendy is struggling even with my help, so if I help out where we're short staffed, we can get rid of the back log altogether and work more cases."

Catherine scowled at him, feeling as though Nick had poisoned him against her too. "What am I supposed to do now? I'm losing you and Sara. I'll be pulling my hair out with all these new recruits."

Greg wished that he could say something to make it all up to her, but he wasn't the cause of her problems. He was simply following both his doctors and his husbands advice of taking things a little easier for the sake of the little life inside of him.

"So you're just leaving me to fend for myself then?"

"It's not like that." He tried to assure her. "We're short staffed all over the lab. We haven't got much of a family left here at the lab, so there's not really much keeping us together anymore. It's just a job, Catherine." He reminded her, pulling down his sweatshirt again. "I know you think I'm an idiot for getting back with Nick and getting pregnant again, but this is what I want. It's what he wants too. I just wish that you could be happy for us and stop trying to break us up every chance you get."

"I haven't..."

"Then why'd you tell my Mom where we going to get married?" He stopped her there. "You thought that Nick would bottle it with her there and leave me again? Well you're wrong about him, because it only made him want to marry me even more."

"Greg, I was only..."

"Stop trying to destroy this for me!" He snapped at her. "Whatever your grudge against Nick is, it's between you and him. It has nothing to do with me. He's been great with me and Colt and he's already explained everything to you, so stop taking it out on him."

He walked away from her, making his way straight to the men's room, before his emotions got the better of him. He didn't understand why Catherine was still taking it out on him. She was really sympathetic when he first told her, but now she had forgotten that any of it had even happened and she was back to taking it out on him again.

Putting the phone down after the fiftieth call that morning, Nick jotted down some notes, before he lifted his gaze towards his office door. "Hey, what's up?" He ushered his husband inside, watching the younger man closing the door behind him, before he slowly made his way towards his desk. "You look so sexy when you walk like that."

"Shut up, my feet hurt and I've put on even more weight." He dropped into the seat in front of Nick's desk, resting his head back against the back of the chair. "I'm thinking maybe I made a mistake."

"About what?" Nick gave him a confused look, hoping it wasn't about him.

"In taking the job on swing shift." He placed his hands on his stomach, lifting his head slightly so he could look at his partner in front of him. "It's not sitting right with the baby either."

Climbing to his feet with a smile on his lips, Nick made his way round his desk, gently placing his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "It's not sittin' right with the baby, because you've been eatin' spicy food nonstop. I told you to cut down on the curries and things."

"I can't help it. It's a craving." He rubbed his sides, looking up into his partner's eyes. "Catherine isn't exactly keen on the idea either. She just gave me another earful about you, when it was my idea in the first place." He sat up straight, turning slightly to look at Nick beside him. "Maybe you were right. Maybe I should just take my maternity leave now. I can't fit through most doorways at the moment."

"Would you stop?" Nick chuckled softly, stepping around the chair to kneel in front of him. "You're not that big. And you're still the most beautiful man in the world."

"My stretch marks have stretch marks." Greg pointed out to him.

"Well I wouldn't know, you haven't let me see you naked in a while, but I can handle it. I'm sure I'll be able to control myself." He seductively rasped as he leant closer to his partner's lips. "You're still the most gorgeous, sexy, adorable man I have ever laid eyes on. And that will never change. I love you and Colt more than anythin'. Whatever Catherine says about me, it's just her own personal feelin's. I'll never leave you of my own free will, again."

"I hate how you always add that clause." Greg playfully slapped his cheek, reminding him, "You've been completely clear. You have to think it too." He leant forwards, sealing a kiss to the man's lips. "I love you, baby."

"Don't call me baby on the job. It's Mr Stokes." He grinned against his lips.

"Yes, sir." The younger man playfully saluted him. "Think you just filled my head with fantasy ideas for the day."

"I forgot that authority turns you on."

"Yeah. I'm stuck with Arlene in ballistics today, so it'll give me something to think about." He pushed himself to his feet, pressing one last kiss to his husband's lips. "See you soon, Mr Stokes."

"Hey, let me know when you're done. I can take my break to drive you home."

"Okay." Greg adjusted his sweatshirt, before he stepped out of the man's office. He was starting to feel a little warm in his oversized sweatshirt, but it was the only piece of clothing he had left that hid his stomach. He took the elevator down, bumping into the wife of their victim from a few weeks ago again. "Mrs Shaw, what are you doing back here again?"

"I needed to talk to you." The woman adjusted her five year old daughter in her arms, giving the younger man an apologetic look. "I know you were only trying to help me last time I was here, and I'm grateful for that. I'm taking Hannah out of this city. We're going back to Atlanta to live with my folks. I just wanted to thank you before we left."

"There's really no need." Greg gave her a smile anyway. "I know Hannah's grandmother will be happy to see you both. When we interviewed her, she said she hasn't seen her since she was a baby."

"Yeah." Mrs Shaw looked at her little girl in her arms, before she gave the young man a smile. "Thanks, Greg. And good luck with the baby. This one will be expecting a little brother or sister soon too."

"You mean...?" He pointed towards her stomach, giving the woman a smile. "Congratulations." He knew how much it meant to her to have a baby as her and her husband had been trying for a while. They had just started the expensive process of IVF, which was what got her husband so in debt with all the wrong people. "I hope it all works out for you."

"Thank you." She adjusted her child in her arms, before she leant forwards to hug him. She gave the man a wide smile, slowly turning away to leave the lab for the last time.

Greg watched them leaving, starting to miss his own child as he looked at the little girl in the woman's arms. He reluctantly returned to his shift, meeting Sara in the ballistics lab. "Hey, I thought you weren't on shift today." He retook his seat behind his desk, giving out a sigh of relief as he finally got to sit down again. "You missing us already?"

"I'm taking on a few extra shifts to help Catherine out, before the big change around." She explained, setting an evidence bag on the table in front of Greg. "I found this shell casing at my crime scene. Doc Robbins should have the bullet out of the victim's skull, but I need you to find me a print or something to work with."

"No problem."

"Are you okay? You sound a little breathless."

"You try having a baby pressed against your diaphragm." He grabbed for his box of gloves, snapping them into place over his chubby fingers. "I'm fine. According to my doctor, I'm breathing normally, it just takes a little more effort to get through me and the baby. So, is Grissom back yet?" He changed the subject.

"Yeah, he's teaching now. Doing what he always wanted to do."

"Whoever his students are, they're lucky. Grissom's a great teacher. I wouldn't be where I am today without him. Even when he was mad at me over something I did wrong, still thought he was a great teacher. Made me feel as though I had let him down when I did something wrong."

"You get that from, Nick." She smiled at him. "He's taught you a lot too."

"I know that, you think I'd do this for anyone else?" He motioned towards his stomach. "Nick is the only one that's ever really understood me. He's the only one that I'd ever want to have a child with, even though I never even wanted a child before." He touched his fingers to his eyes, feeling his tears coming on again.

Sara giggled softly, before she stepped around the table to hug him. "I forgot how emotional you got with Colt. I thought you were skipping that phase with this one."

"Unfortunately not." He sobbed into her shoulder, pulling back to dry his eyes on his sleeves. "Anything sets me off now. I was watching TV last night and there was one of those ads for adopting a tiger. I immediately burst into tears. I couldn't stop."

"Don't worry about it, those things are sad. After a few glasses of wine, I have a tear in my eye after those ads."

"I didn't say a tear. I was blubbering like a baby." He corrected her. "I don't even cry watching soap cliff hangers. Nicky does. He can't watch romantic movies. He gets all teary."

"Aww," Sara smiled. "Although that doesn't really surprise me, he is a lot more emotional than you. He always feels for the victims and they're families. When they cry, he always has a tear in his eye too. I've always loved that about him."

"Me too." Greg agreed with her, wiping away the last of his tears. "You know Colt's going to be four soon."

"Oh yeah," She remembered. "Are you doing anything special?"

"He wants to go swimming, but half the kids in his class can't swim yet. I only started him in the swimming lessons, because I couldn't swim until I was twelve. My Mom was too scared that I would drown, plus she couldn't swim, so she never bothered with it. Then swimming became part of schools gym class, so I took extra lessons outside of school with my Papa Olaf, so I wasn't the only one that couldn't swim."

"I couldn't swim until I was fifteen, so that's not that much of a shock. Foster parents didn't exactly have the time to take us out to extracurricular activities. But he's only three."

"I know. He loves it though. Nicky takes him a few times. He loves it too."

"Have you thought about having a proper kiddie party with bouncy castle, cake and all that. You even have a garden now." She pointed out to him, grabbing her phone as it bleeped. "Oh that's Wendy. She's got a match for me. Let me know if you get anything off the casing or the bullet."

"Okay." Greg spun round on his chair, getting back to his work. He couldn't stop thinking about what he was going to do for his son's birthday party though. He wanted it to be special since it was the first time that Nick would be with them, but he didn't want too many people traipsing through his new house. He really didn't want too many people to see him in his current condition either. Some of them still thought that it was a little strange that he could even get pregnant.

Once his shift was up, he handed the last of his results to Catherine, avoiding any direct eye contact with her as he grabbed his jacket from their shared office. He made his way upstairs to his husband's office, giving the door a light knock before he stepped inside.

"Hey, I'm almost done. Sit down." Nick motioned towards the chair in front of his desk, while he continued to sort through some files. "I'll be right back. I just have to hand these over to Catherine. Her new recruit files." He pressed a kiss to Greg's forehead, before he left the room.

Greg leant forwards as soon as he was gone, grabbing the picture that Nick had set on his desk. He immediately smiled as it was from their wedding day in Hawaii. He grabbed for the second photo, brushing his thumb across their little boy's adorable little smile.

"Okay, c'mon." Nick held the door open, watching Greg quickly putting the photos back, before he struggled to his feet. "You snoopin'?" He helped his partner with his jacket, giving him a smile as he led him out the door. "I need a picture of you for my private stash before you pop."

"Sex talk in the office? Mr Stokes, I didn't know you had it in you." He smiled at him, making the older man blush. "So if me being pregnant really turns you on, how come it feels like you've barely touched me since our wedding?"

"It wasn't that long ago."

"Long enough to be months." Greg pointed out to him, leading the way to the man's car. He climbed into the passenger seat, struggling with his seatbelt for a moment, before Nick gave him a hand. "You know when you weren't here, I managed things by myself. Not well, but I got by."

"Now you don't have to." He adjusted the belt over Greg's stomach, pressing a playful kiss to his lips. "I'm here now. As for not bein' together for a while, I was thinkin' that I could make it up to you tomorrow. Well, today, but later. Colt has preschool and we have the mornin' off together."

"But it's Wednesday, he has swimming this afternoon. I'll be too tired. And I'll probably sink."

"I'll go." The man insisted, reversing his car out of its parking spot. He drove in the direction of home, noticing Greg holding his stomach on the way. "Am I goin' too fast? You want me to slow down?"

"No." Greg shook his head, resting his head back against his chair. "Baby's awake. You think they're gonna be nocturnal once they're born? Baby only seems to kick during the night on my shift. I barely feel any movement during the day."

"Maybe. You are lyin' down durin' the day, so it probably gets more sleep. It does kick sometimes when you're sleepin'. I've felt it."

"Baby. Not an it." Greg corrected him, lifting the man's hand off the steering wheel to weave their fingers together. "You realise that your first born is about to turn four? What do you wonna do for his birthday?"

"Shouldn't you ask him what he wants?" Nick couldn't believe that his baby was turning four already. He was still just a baby to him, but he was growing into a child really fast.

"He wants to go swimming. I'm gonna be another month pregnant by then. I'll get in and all the water will flush out."

Nick chuckled softly, shaking his head at his husband. "Baby, you over exaggerate too much. You're not fat. You're pregnant and gorgeous. We could always take him to the seaside at your folks'. You said he loves the seaside at his Nana's and he hasn't been for a while, so we could all go together. He loved it on holiday when it was just the three of us. He's not at the age yet where he needs his friends to play."

"Okay, don't tell him though. We'll make it a surprise. Don't tell my Mom either."

"I wouldn't, she can't keep secrets." He pulled up in their driveway, giving Greg a hand out of the car, so he could take him inside. They quietly made their way through the house so they wouldn't disturb Jean or Colt, as the two of them were still sleeping.

"Wait, wait... I gotta pee." Greg steered himself away from their bedroom, hurrying to the bathroom to go again. The older man stepped across the hall, easing the door open to his son's room. He smiled as Colt was lying on his side against the edge of his bed, with his covers kicked to the end.

He knelt down beside his bed, gently sliding his hands beneath the child's arms, so he could move him back to the middle of his bed. He decided to leave his covers off for now, as it was quite warm in his room, so he wasn't in any danger of catching a cold. He double checked by placing his hand on his child's forehead, smiling to himself as his son's hair was adorably stuck to his forehead with his sweat.

Nick pressed a kiss to his toddler's forehead, quietly making his way out of the room to help Greg into bed. "He's still only wearin' two to three year old clothes, right?" He asked as he swept the younger man's hooded sweatshirt up his chest. "He's growin' at the same rate I did when I was a kid. He's gonna be a short arse until he's fourteen, then he's gonna have a sudden growth spurt, just like I did."

"And you're still shorter than me." Greg grinned, dropping to the edge of their bed once his sweatshirt was off. "I'm never wearing that thing again, it's too hot." He crawled backwards on his elbows, dropping his head to his pillow. "Is Colt...?"

"Sleepin'." Nick loosened his partner's jeans for him, getting a kick from the baby in the process. "Did Colt kick a lot when he was... you know," He motioned towards his stomach.

"Not really." Greg sat up, giving Nick a hand with his jeans. "When I first felt him, it felt like flutters in my stomach. He kicked occasionally, but he was more of a summersault baby. One day his head was up here, the next it was down here, then he'd be totally flipped around with his legs up to his head. You know when you've just drank a fizzy drink really fast and you can feel the bubbles in your stomach? Well he kinda felt like that."

Nick smiled in response, pressing a kiss to the younger man's forehead. "I gotta get back to work. I'll see you later."

"We're not at the office anymore, baby." Greg pulled him closer, looking deep into the man's eyes. "You can kiss me like you mean it now." He whispered against his lips, waiting with baited breath for Nick to make the first move. He took the bait within a few seconds, trying to keep his distance as he had to get back to work.

"Baby, I gotta go." Nick breathlessly pulled back from him, licking his lips as he looked into the younger man's eyes. "I'll make it up..." He kissed him again. "To you later..." He gasped between another kiss. "I swear. I love you."

"I love you." Greg called after him, before he grabbed one of the extra pillows beside him. He stuffed it under his stomach as he rolled over, desperately trying to get comfortable. He usually had his comfy pillow, Nicky beside him, but with his new job, they wouldn't be in the same bed for a while now.

He wriggled on the bed for a while, constantly adjusting the pillows around him, getting more and more frustrated by the minute. He eventually got sick of it, climbing out of bed to make his way downstairs. He figured that he was too hungry to sleep, so he raided the fridge for some food.

There was some of Nick's left over curry, a few bear claws that his mother had brought over with her. He grabbed as much as he could carry, taking it back to bed with him. He knew that Nick didn't like crumbs in his bed, so he was careful not to drop any. He eventually fell asleep with the food still on his chest though, an accident waiting to happen.

When Nick returned home a few hours later, Jean and Colt were already up, getting breakfast before he had to go to preschool. "Mornin', sleepy head." He pressed a kiss to the toddler's forehead, gently brushing away the syrup from his bottom lip with his thumb. "Missed your mouth again, bud. Mmm," He licked his thumb, getting a giggle out of his toddler.

"Daddy." Colt held up his fork to the man, with a piece of waffle and half a strawberry on it. He giggled as his father immediately eat it, before he pressed multiple kisses to his son's little cheek.

"You want any, Nicky?" Jean smiled at her son in law, expecting his answer would be the usual polite decline, but she asked him anyway.

"No, thank you. I already ate." He tapped his stomach, taking a seat beside his son at the island. "Do you want me to take him to preschool?"

"It's up to you, sweetheart. I really don't mind helping out while I'm here. But he's your son." Jean gave him a smile, tapping him on the shoulder as she stepped around him. "I'll go get his clothes."

Nick gave her a nod, watching his toddler eating. "Uh uh," He shook his head as Colt held up his fork to him again. "You eat the rest, bud. You need the energy for preschool." He pressed a kiss to the top of his head, making his way round the kitchen to make himself a coffee.

Jean returned with the toddlers clothes a few minutes later, setting it on the chair beside her grandson. "There you are. Shorts and t-shirt since it's really warm today. Did you want me to get him dressed?"

"No, I can do it." Nick gave her a smile.

"Okay, then. So, are you two sure that you won't need me for the rest of the week?"

"Yeah, with Greg switching shifts, one of us will always be with him now." He assured her, lifting Colt out of his seat once he was done. He held him against his hip, giving the woman a wide smile. "We'll be okay. And we'll call you if we need you."

"We'll be over at the weekend ." She reminded him. "Daniel's got that drill bit that you need to fix the crib together. You can start getting things ready for the baby's room. You can help out your Daddy to pick out some toys for your baby brother or sister." She spoke to her grandson. "If you're anything like your Papa Greg at your age, he wouldn't share any of his toys when his cousins came over. He cried his little eyes out if they touched one of his teddies."

Nick smiled at thought of a little Greg crying because someone else was touching his toys. He was the same now if he wanted to switch over the channel on the TV, but he didn't cry now, he fought him for it to get back to what he wanted to watch.

Jean gave them a wave, making her way back to the spare bedroom upstairs, so she finish packing up her things. They hadn't gotten around to decorating or furnishing the guest house yet, so she was currently sleeping in the room that would soon be the baby's room.

"C'mon darlin', let's get you dressed." Nick grabbed his clothes off the chair, taking his son through to the front room. He sat him down on the sofa, changing him out of his pyjamas into the cute little cargo shorts and a t-shirt with one of his favourite cartoon characters on it. "I'll pick you up from preschool. Then we're goin' swimmin' later." He reminded him, getting the usual excited smile from his toddler's lips.

"Papa go?"

"No, Papa can't go." Nick didn't actually have a reason that made sense for his toddler, other than the fact that Greg thought he was too fat to get into the pool. "C'mon, let's go get your face washed and teeth brushed, ready for preschool."

Colt grabbed his Spiderman action figure off the sofa beside him, before his father lifted him into his arms. He clutched Nick's shoulder tightly on the way up the stairs, until his father sat him on the edge of the sink counter so he could get his toothbrush ready for him. He didn't like the taste of the mint toothpaste that they used, so they bought him his own strawberry flavoured one that still protected his little teeth.

"Let me hold that for you." Nick took the toy off his hands, replacing it with his toothbrush. "Back ones too." He reminded him, as he usually only did his front teeth so he didn't have to put his toothbrush too far into his mouth.

Nick double checked his teeth once he was finished, before he took him outside to the car. His cell started to ring as soon as he reached the car, before he even had a chance to open it. He adjusted his son against his hip, retrieving his phone from his pocket.

"Yeah?" He struggled to open the back door, with the phone against his ear. "Yeah, David Daniels and Mark Hope are on call today. I wrote up the new schedules and gave them to each of the supervisors." He explained to his new boss, while he sat his son in his seat. "I can get them to you tomorrow. I'm with my kid right now."

Colt tilted his head back while his father was talking, watching the man struggling to clip his seatbelt together with only one free hand.

"The new recruits? Yeah, I scheduled their interviews around the supervisors schedules, so they'll be available to interview them with us. Like I said, I can get the schedule to you tomorrow, first thing when I get in." He assured him, but the man wasn't happy.

Nick rolled his eyes, wishing he had never entered a job as a paper pusher. If it wasn't for Greg's concern about him, he could have gone for the supervisor position on one of the shifts, finally leading one of his own teams. Instead, he felt like a personal assistant to the world's biggest jackass.

He looked at his son as Sam Harding continued to give him a lecture, reluctantly agreeing to go in now and get him a copy of the schedules. He was running early, so it wouldn't hurt to make a pit stop at the lab, before he took his son off to preschool.

He snapped his phone shut before the man finished speaking, slotting it back in his pocket so he could strap his son into his seat. "You know, if I didn't love your Papa so much, I wouldn't even bother with this guy."

"So why do you?" Jean made him jump, causing him to bump his head on the roof of his car. "Ohh, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you I was here, but you were on the phone."

"It's okay." He rubbed his head, turning to face the woman behind him. "I take it you heard all that then?"

"Not intentionally." She shook her head, adjusting her bag in her hands. "I was just going to ask for a lift into town. But you were on the phone to that... boss of yours. So why do you put up with this guy?" She curiously asked him.

Nick anxiously bit his lower lip, not sure what to say to her.

"I hated Daniel's job when Greg was this age. He was always out of the house and away on business trips all the time. But I didn't say anything because it was what he wanted to do. He worked so hard to get where he is, and I would never ask him to stop as he always put us first over the job anyway. When Greg had an ear infection, he took three planes just to get back to be with us at the hospital. Greg's just like me. So I know that Greg wouldn't want you to do something that you hated, just to please him."

"It's my first day." Nick pointed out to her. "I can't just quit because it wasn't what I expected."

"Sure you can, you'll regret it in ten years time if you're still working the exact same job that you never liked. Tell me, did you stay in your job as a CSI because you didn't know what else to do? Or because you loved it?"

Nick didn't even have to answer the question, as she already knew the answer. "Greg was so proud of me though."

"I think he'd feel prouder if you were doing something that you loved." Jean raised her wrist to look at the time, giving her son in law a smile. "So, about that lift into town?"

"Sure, climb in." He double checked that his son was safely strapped in, before he pushed the back door shut. He had never really quit on anything so soon, especially something like this, but he knew that Greg would eventually understand that it wasn't what he wanted to do.

Nick dropped his mother in law off in town first, before he made his way to the lab. He carried Colt inside with him, not sure if he wanted to give his boss the schedules that he asked for or head straight to the man's office and tell him to stick his job. The second option sounded more fun, but he figured if he did that, he wouldn't get the chance to become employed in another area in the lab.

"Where we going, Daddy?" Colt clutched the man's shoulder tightly as he climbed a flight of stairs.

"Daddy's office. I just gotta do somethin' real quick for my boss, then we'll go to preschool." He assured him, pushing the door open for his floor. He used his key to get into his office, sitting Colt on his swivel desk chair, while he searched for where he put the extra copy of the schedule.

As he looked at his son sat in his desk chair, he was reminded of visiting his father's office when he was a just a child himself. His father had just picked him up from a baseball game, promising to take him out for ice cream as his team won. On the drive back though, his father received a phone call requesting his services back at the DA's office.

Nick's father immediately drove there, sitting him in his desk chair, while he attended a two hour meeting involving his latest case. Nick was so bored that he fell asleep in his father's chair. When he woke up he was in the back of his brother's car, being driven home without having any ice cream.

It was then that Nick realised that his father's job would always be more important to him than he was.

He never wanted his own son to feel like that. "Okay, I got it." He lifted his son into his arms again, taking him back out into the hall. "One more stop, then we're done." Nick assured him, locking his office door, before he made his way towards his new bosses office down the hall. "Hi Angela, he in?" He asked Sam's personal assistant, motioning towards the office door.

"Eh... no," She smiled as she saw the adorable child in his arms. "Hey, cutie. You look just like your Daddy. Mr Harding's gone home for the day. You have a message?"

Nick rolled his eyes, furious that the man practically ordered him to give him the schedule now, when he wasn't even in. "Nah, just give him this." He handed her the file from his hands. "Actually, you can tell him that I've changed my mind about the job."

"Are you sure? He's been singing your praises all day."

"It's not for me." Nick assured her. "It was only supposed to be a trial run anyway. I'm not cut out for this."

"I didn't think a former CSI like you would fit in around here." Angela admitted, jotting down a note on a post-it. "This is Mr Harding's personal cell. He doesn't like me giving it out unless it's an emergency, but you can call him on it and arrange a meeting to discuss your future employment. He won't give you the time of day if he's in the office." She climbed to her feet, handing it over to him across her desk. "Isn't he Mr Sanders' little boy?" She suddenly realised where she recognised him from.

"Yeah." Nick nodded, pressing a kiss to his toddler's forehead, finally filling in the blank for her over who the father was. "Thank you, Angela." He gave her a smile, taking his son out of the building to get him to preschool.

After dropping him off at preschool with multiple hugs and kisses, Nick returned home, climbing into bed with the man he adored. He brushed his thumb across the man's cheek, realising that it was curry sauce stuck to his cheek and not blood. He lay himself down beside him, putting his elbow in a half eaten yoghurt pot. He cringed as he set it on the bedside table, using a tissue to wipe away what was left on his elbow.

"Sorry." Greg stretched out on the bed beside him, slowly opening his sleepy eyes.

"Remember my no food rule?" Nick lifted the plate off the bed, before Greg put the covers in what was left of the curry sauce. "Don't smile, it's gross. Food in the sheets reminds me of that crime scene that Warrick and I had. Those freaks with the food fetish and sex."

"I have fetishes. Does that make me a freak?"

"Yeah, but not slappin' cake icin' on my chest while we're doin' it. It's gross. And you know I don't like it. Just like you know I don't like anythin' involvin' leather in the bedroom or bein' tied up and beaten. That's not love."

"I'm sorry, I got hungry. I'm eating for two and with a baby with your appetite too."

"Just keep it out of the bed, and we won't have a problem."

"Yes, Mr Stokes." Greg gave him another salute, struggling to sit up against his pillows. "I think this new found power has gone to your head a little bit." He brushed his fingers through the man's hair, looking into his eyes. "What's the matter, baby? You look like you have something on your mind."

"I don't wonna do it." Nick thought that it was best to just get it out of the way. "I know you're really proud of me for this, and the last thing I wonna do is let you down, but I can't do it. I know it's only my first day, but I can't stand havin' a boss like Sam Harding orderin' me about for the rest of my life. He called me this mornin' when I was about to take Colt into preschool, demandin' I get back there to give him the schedule that doesn't even take effect until next week. The asshole wasn't even there to give it to anyway, so I shouldn't have even bothered."

"Easy, baby. You're gonna pop a blood vessel." Gently lowering the man's head to his chest, Greg stroked his fingers through his hair, realising that this really wasn't what he wanted. "To be honest, you really didn't fit in with the whole corporate office thing, anyway. I was supporting you, because I thought that it was what you wanted."

"I thought I did."

Pressing a kiss to Nick's forehead, Greg circled his arms around him, whispering, "What are you gonna do instead? I hate to remind you of this now, but you've got a baby on the way."

"I didn't actually quit." Nick lifted his head, looking into the younger man's eyes. "I was gonna talk to him tomorrow about it. Since we're so short staffed in the lab, I doubt he's gonna throw away the chance to hire a CSI with my experience."

"Is that what you wonna do?"

Nick nodded slightly, nervously looking at the younger man's expression. "It'll mean odd hours. The constant threat of danger. And I feel like a total hypocrite, because I've been tellin' you that I don't want you to do this. Now I want to."

"You're doing something you love though." Greg combed his fingers through the man's hair, giving him a smile. "I want you to do something that you love, Nicky. It's different for me, I'm carrying your baby. I'm not just putting myself at risk out there, I'm putting this little life at risk too. It doesn't make you a hypocrite."

"No matter what, I promise to be there for every birthday, baseball game, date night and anniversary. I'll never put the job before you or our kids." He placed his hand on Greg's stomach, feeling his baby moving inside. "I can't wait for this little one to arrive."

* * *

**Thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate them. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. And I'm sorry for the length of time between updates, but it's been one of those years, already. Granddad's in and out of hospital with heart problems after his bypass a few years ago. Uncle in hospital for his diabetes. Not going to lose his foot thankfully, but they did just lose their dog, Buzz, a staffy that I've known since I was... 10. Now my Mum is in and out of hospital with problems with her knees, not sure if it's gout, calcium build up or arthritis at this stage.**

**Finally found some time to write though. :D**

**Almost done with the next chapter, so should be up sometime this weekend.**

**Hope you all have a great weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five**

"I told you before, I don't know what happened. I wasn't there!" The woman screamed at him, lashing out at him this time. Her sharp glittered nails struck blood on his cheek, before the officers in the room had time to grab her. "I didn't do anything. Let go of me!"

"Stokes, you alright?" Deputy McKane checked on him, while the others were restraining the hysterical woman outside.

"Yeah." Nick touched his fingers to his cheek, seeing blood. "I'm alright. Can you call, Brass? Tell him we've still got nothin' on the mother. I'm headin' back to the lab, see of Doc Robbins has determined the COD for our vic." He collected up the files from the interrogation room table, receiving a call from his new partner, Carla. "Yeah?"

"Hi, it's me. I'm at the hospital. The little girl is awake. Doctor says we can talk to her, as long as we keep it brief."

"Okay," Nick checked the time on his watch, agreeing to meet her there. He still had a few hours left before they were due to leave for California, so he didn't have to worry about rushing home to start packing for the trip just yet.

"Mr Stokes," The receptionist caught up to him in the hall, handing him an invoice. "Oh, ow. Did you have a fight with a cat?" She noticed his cheek.

"No... it eh, doesn't matter." He tried to hide it by turning his head away from her.

"Okay. Well the delivery guys put the flat packed crib in Mr Sanders' office. I can arrange for it to be taken to your car if you'd like."

"No, thank you, Rosa." He gave the woman a warm smile. "Thanks for this."

"It's no problem." She assured him. "So, you've bought the crib, does that mean that you're starting to get the nursery ready for your little one? I remember with my first, we bought all the furniture and things when I was twenty weeks, but when the baby was born, we still hadn't put any of it together. She stayed in our room until she was nearly two, then I got pregnant with my second, so we had to get started on decorating the spare room."

"Greg's thirty weeks and we've only just got the crib. He didn't want to get anythin' too early, just in case."

"Thirty weeks." The woman whistled. "So close to his due date then. I think when I was thirty weeks, I started my nesting phase. My son was born at thirty three weeks, so it was in the normal time frame. I should have taken it as a sign that he was going to be early, but I just got on with. Sorted the whole house top to bottom, even did my mother's when we went over there for thanksgiving."

"I haven't seen him do anythin' like that." Nick smirked, as the younger man was doing the complete opposite of tidying at the moment. "Thanks again, Rosa, I'll talk to you later." He waved her off, relieved she didn't try and show him her c-section scar from her third child again. "Hey, Catherine." He caught the woman just coming in for her shift. "I just wanted to..."

"It's okay." She stopped him there, knowing what he was going to say before the words even left his lips. "I don't need another apology, Nicky. I think the last dozen or so were enough. I know that it wasn't your call. I just didn't want to lose my team again. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, and I hope I'm not the reason for your recent demotion." She motioned towards his CSI badge back in his shirt pocket.

"No." He shook his head. "I chose this."

"You chose to work back in the field with us, rather than management of this lab?" Catherine gave him a confused look, spotting the scratches to his face. "Seriously, why would you choose this over that? The pay rise and the power over dealing with people that try to scratch your eyes out? I would kill to have the chance that you had up there."

"You're welcome to it." Nick stepped around her, making his way towards the elevator. He held the door open for her, giving her a smile as she stepped into the elevator with him. "I'm grateful for your help to get the chance at that job though, but it really wasn't for me. I felt more like a personal errand boy than any kind of management."

"I feel like that all the time." She folded her arms across her chest, watching the numbers going up towards their floor. "I've been running a short staffed lab since Grissom decided to up and leave us. Warrick, Sara, you, Grissom... it all fell apart. We've had a few that really tried, but they don't fit in like we all did."

"We've been through a lot together." Nick pointed out to her. "We trusted each other with our lives a lot more than anyone else. Like a family. Nothin' can ever replace what we had. I know we all regret what's happened to us over the years, but if we never went through any of it, we wouldn't be the people we are today."

Catherine smiled in response, seeing a sign of the old Nicky again. "It's good to have you back. Even if you are on a different shift, it's good to have you back in the lab. So, how's it going on swing shift anyway?"

"Alright, I guess." He shrugged. He didn't have much experience with the shift at the moment, since it was only his second week, but he was starting to enjoy working in the day time. "It's not half as interestin' as workin' the graveyard shift. But it has it's perks. Colt finishes preschool when I finish, so I get to take him home and spend some time with him. Greg's hours are almost the same as mine, so I can see him whenever I like."

Catherine chuckled softly, stepping out of the elevator as they reached their floor. "Every job has its perks, I guess. Won't be for much longer though right, I hear he's on maternity leave from the end of today."

"Yeah, his idea since he can't fit behind the table in the lab anymore." He followed her through the hall, receiving a file from one of the junior lab techs. "Thanks." He smiled at her, turning his attention back to Catherine beside him. "He's worried he's gonna knock over some of the lab equipment with his recent clumsiness. He's broken three plates and two glasses in the three weeks alone at home."

"I don't miss that. It's all that extra weight. I was always knocking things over and dropping them." Catherine chortled. "How much longer has he got to go?" She followed him towards the DNA lab, noticing some hesitation as the man tried to think. "What, what's wrong?"

"He's nearly thirty weeks now, so at our next appointment the doc's gonna tell us when the c-section is." Nick explained to her, stopping outside the lab to look at his other half. The younger man was sat at his desk, rubbing his hand across his stomach as he looked up some results on the computer in front of him. "It all depends on how the baby is and how much longer Greg's body can stand to house the baby inside him. His blood pressure has gone up a bit since our last visit, but the doc keeps tellin' us not to worry about it. If he can make it to May, the baby won't be too premature, so they won't have to spend any time in an incubator. And Greg won't have to spend too much time in hospital either."

"Greg was worrying about the exact same thing with Colt, but he made it to full term." She tried to put him at ease, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Try not to worry about it too much." The woman gave him a smile, making a beeline towards her office as her cell started to ring.

Turning for the lab door, Nick stepped around the desk where Greg was sat, gently placing his palm on the younger man's lower back. "Hey, baby. Miss me?" He usually kissed him on the neck when they had been apart for a while, but he had reluctantly agreed to keep the affectionate touches and kisses to minimum while they were working together. "You busy in here today?"

Greg shrugged his shoulders together, looking a little down in the dumps.

"Brass has been talkin' about this baby epidemic again, down in the station. Apparently there's three deputies currently out of action with baby's and there's another two that are pregnant. And I saw that Kyla Griffin that you were talkin' about this mornin'. I can't believe she's seven months along, she's smaller than you." As Greg rolled his eyes at him, Nick gave him an apologetic look. "I don't mean it like that. It is her first though. She recons hers is gonna be a girl."

"That's because she's studied her ultrasound pictures over and over."

"She tell you she's gonna call it, Glacier?" He asked, gently smoothing his palm up and down the younger man's back. "I guess we'll have to start thinkin' of some names soon. Do you want to put the crib together tonight, before we head of to your Mom's?"

"What do you want, Nick?" He suddenly snapped at him, pushing his hands away from him. "Can you step back? I feel like you're constantly hovering over me every minute. What do you want?"

"Sorry." Raising his hands like a suspect, Nick took a step away from him, asking, "Have you got the results that Doc Robbins sent up to you yet?"

"Yeah." The younger man lethargically handed them over, before he climbed to his feet, making his way to the other side of his lab. Nick read through the results, realising why he was so upset. "A definite overdose. Unless ten month olds suddenly figured out how to drink a whole bottle of cough syrup..."

"Yeah, I was on my way to talk to the sister at the hospital."

The Texan hated the fact that his last case before their holiday was the case of a ten month old baby boy and a six year old girl. The two of them were found during an apartment building fire. Another team on swing shift were working the fire case, trying to determine whether it was accidental or on purpose. Meanwhile, Nick and Carla were working the case of the ten month old boy that was found dead in one of the apartments, only he didn't die from smoke inhalation and there was no one looking after him or his sister, making the circumstances even more suspicious.

"I guess I better get goin' then." Nick turned for the door. "I'll meet you in your office later."

"Wait. What happened?" Greg finally noticed the cat like scratches to his husband's face. He touched his hand to his cheek, trying to see how deep they were. "Who did this to you?" He gave him a concerned look, acting as though the wound was a serious gunshot wound, rather than three little scratches.

"Oh, it's nothin'."

"This is not nothing, Nicky."

"The mother in the interrogation room. I was askin' her about the fire and all that, then I brought up the subject of why she left her six year old and ten month old alone in the apartment. She started shoutin' the odds of how she had to work for a livin' and all that, then she lashed out at me." He explained to him, looking into Greg's eyes as the younger man affectionately brushed his fingertips across the scratches on his cheek. "Thought I did somethin' to piss you off."

"If you did, you'd know about it." Greg lowered his hand to his side, making his way back to his seat. "It's not been an easy day. I'm fine though. I can't wait until this day is over though." He explained, wondering if Nick had even been down to autopsy yet. He knew that he couldn't face it himself. He hadn't been able to attend a child's autopsy since the day that Colt was born, Something like that would scar him for life now. He'd be forever fearing that it could be his child lying there one day.

"I'll see you later."

Ignoring the rule they had made up, Nick leant across the lab table, pressing a kiss to his partner's forehead. He gave him a smile as he walked away, finally making his way to the hospital to speak to the little girl about what happened to her little brother.

As soon as he arrived, his partner for the day was stood by the nurses stations, twirling her finger through her shoulder length black hair as she openly flirted with the male nurse stood in front of her. Nick had to admit that she was a knockout, but in the time he had known her, she wasn't really focused on the job at hand, which didn't really appeal to him.

"When you're ready, CSI Marsh." Nick startled her, ushering her away from the male nurse. "What was all that bull you told me last week about datin' a guy that was beneath you in the workin' world?"

"I know, but he's cute." Carla defended herself, leading the way towards paediatrics down the hall. "The doc said the kid's got minor burns and smoke inhalation. They called social services after they did some x-rays. They found several broken bones that have healed by themselves over time. Looks like long term physical abuse, but she won't say anything to the social worker about it. And she hasn't said a word to me." She pointed the man towards the room once she stopped. "Her name's Leah. She's five and three quarters and she loves Tinkerbelle the cartoon character."

"I thought you said she hasn't said a word to you?"

"She hasn't. She told that cute nurse. That's why I was talking to him." Carla gave him a grin, pushing the door open for him. "I'll head on back to the lab to get the rest of our results. Call me if you find out anything. And try not to get in anymore cat fights." She giggled, pointing to the scratches on his face.

"Yeah, thanks." Nick stepped into the room, giving the social worker a smile as she saw his badge. He took a few steps closer to the child's bed, resting his hands on the railing as he watched her drawing on the paper she had in front of her. "Fire truck." He immediately noticed what her drawing was. "My little boy love's fire trucks. He's never seen a real one before. Did you get to ride in the back of an ambulance too?"

The child nodded, without tearing her eyes away from her picture.

"Sweetie, my name's Nick Stokes. I work with the crime lab." He spoke softly. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about what happened to you?"

"I didn't do the fire." Leah glanced up at him, revealing her big innocent brown eyes to him.

"Do you know who did?" He gave her a suspicious look as she took a moment to shake her head. "Leah, why wasn't your Mommy at home with you? Does she usually get a babysitter or a family member to watch over you?"

Leah shook her head from side to side. "Mommy has to work."

"No babysitter at all?"

"Mommy says too expensive." She blurted it out, a lot more cooperative than her mother. "Where is my Mommy?"

"Eh," Glancing over his shoulder at the social worker, Nick tried to think of something other to say than 'Mommy tried to scratch my eye out, so she's spendin' the night in a cell.' He folded his arms across his chest, deciding to change the subject just like he did with his own child. Colt always seemed to forget what he had just asked after he did this, so he figured it would work with her too. "Sweetie, do you know what your Mommy does for work?"

Leah shook her head, anxiously looking at the social services woman in the room. "Is my Mommy in trouble?"

"Why would you say that?" He watched as she immediately closed up, a familiar sign that he had seen a lot of over the years. "Leah, does your Mommy usually leave you alone with your baby brother?"

"Harry's bad."

"Why's Harry bad?" He tilted his head to the side, not understanding how a ten month old could be bad.

"Mommy says he gives her a headache. She gives him special medicine to make him sleep." The child explained, while she coloured in her fire truck with the red crayon. The social worker behind Nick immediately perked up, curious to know what this special medicine was.

"Did Mommy give Harry some of this special medicine before she left for work today?" Nick asked her, getting a nod out of the child as she added a ladder to her fire truck. "Leah, do you remember how much she gave him?"

"He doesn't like the taste of it. I don't either. She puts in juice. Mommy says if you swallow it really fast, so it doesn't touch your tongue, you won't even taste it." She reached out for the yellow crayon beside Nick's hand, adding to the flames of her building.

"Mommy gives it to you?" The social worker asked the child, wondering if the doctor's had properly checked her when they brought her in. "Leah, did Mommy give it to you today?"

Leah nodded her little head, reaching for the stuffed bunny on her bed that was a little charred around the edges. She flipped it over on her lap, unzipping a zipper that ran down the bunny's back. "I didn't drink it. Mommy will be mad." She pulled out the sippy cup from inside, that still had juice inside.

Nick anxiously bit his lower lip as he saw it, wondering how this woman could do something like this to her kids, making them feel as though they had done something wrong by not doing as she asked. He bagged the sippy cup as evidence to take it back to the lab, eager to get this case over and done with.

He made his way back to the lab, handing his evidence in, before he started searching for his partner. "Hey, Tamsin." He called out to the on duty DNA lab tech. "Have you seen, Greg?"

"Yeah, he left about twenty minutes ago. He got a visitor at reception, asked me to fill in for him." She snapped her gloves off, ditching them on the desk beside her. "He told me to give you these when you came in." She grabbed for the file on the end of her desk, handing over the finished autopsy report to him. "Doc Robbins said you should take a look at the hospital records at the back. I can't believe the baby was only ten months. He's been in and out of hospital more than me."

Thanking the woman as he walked away, Nick continued to read through the report, only glancing up as he heard the familiar sound of Greg's voice. The younger man was stood beside the elevators at the reception desk, talking to a woman he had never seen before. She appeared to be a lot older than him. She had short dyed brown hair to her shoulders, wearing a dress that was fit for a woman twenty years younger than her.

From the way Greg was talking to her, they appeared to know each other quite well. She wasn't even disturbed by the fact that he was pregnant.

The woman gave him a hug, showing off her perfect white teeth as she gave him a smile. She stepped into the elevator as soon as it arrived, giving Greg a wave. The younger man held his sides as he turned to walk down the hall, spotting Nick staring at him as if he had just seen him for the first time.

"What's up?"

"Who was that?" Nick turned the question around on him. "I've never seen her before."

"Your jealous of an older woman?" Greg couldn't help but smile, relieved to know that Nick still thought he was worth fighting for while he was like this. "Her name is Faye Byrne. She used to work with my Dad about eight years ago. She's been living in Spain with her husband since. And I'm pretty sure she changed my diapers a few times when she used to babysit for my parents. So trust me, there's nothing to be jealous of."

"What's she doin' here then?"

"Her granddaughter, Annaliese Byrne is the new CSI recruit on night shift. She remembered my Mom telling her that I worked here, so she stopped by to see me after she dropped, Annaliese off. Relax Tex, you're still my number one." The younger man giggled softly, tapping his partner on the shoulder as he stepped past him. "I'll go get my coat. You gonna come get that box?"

"Yeah." Following him into his office, Nick slid his arms around Greg's waist from behind him, pressing a kiss to his neck. "I've missed you today. Are you okay, baby? You don't seem like yourself."

Leaning back into the older man's embrace, Greg closed his eyes, circling the man's arms around his stomach to support the extra weight. "Nothing, I'm just... I don't know." He didn't know how to explain what he was feeling. He was excited that the baby was going to be here soon, but he was also terrified about it at the same time. Finally taking his maternity leave meant he was one step closer to going through a risky operation for both him and his unborn baby. "I wonna go home." He knew that much at least, getting a smile out of his partner.

"Alright. You should get some sleep when we get back, you look exhausted." Nick affectionately stroked his fingers through the younger man's hair, before he released him from his embrace. "I'll drive us tonight."

"It's four hours."

"I'm not tired, or pregnant." He reminded him, grabbing the box that had their brand new crib inside. "Just let me look after you without a battle for once." He playfully poked him in the side. "It's not that hard, honestly. All you have to do is let me."

"I've never been the one in our relationship to just sit back and let you do everything though." Greg led the way to the elevator, holding the doors open so Nick could get the box inside. "Not unless it's something I want you to do, anyway."

Nick grinned in response, sensing what he was trying to say. "Speakin' of, I can't wait for this baby to come out. It feels like it's been ages since we last..." He leant back against the elevator wall, smiling as he realised Greg felt the same from the longing look in his eyes. It wasn't like they hadn't tried. It was just more difficult with a baby between them. They usually ended up giving up before they had even started, as it was so different from what they were used to.

"You know what we should have done? When you first got back, we should have just taken our time then to get reacquainted with one another. Instead of rushing into this." He motioned towards his stomach, realising it was his fault for that as he was the one who wanted another baby so badly. "In all that time that we were dating before Colt, I never thought we'd go the married with kids route. I thought it would just be us."

"Are you glad it isn't or disappointed that it is?"

"Ask me again in ten years." He grinned at him. "I'm kidding. I love that life with you is always so complex, but full of surprises at the same time. It would be boring if it wasn't."

"Aww, I love you too, baby." Nick winked at him, lifting the box into his hands as they reached the parking lot. He led the way towards his car, loading the box into the back, before he gave Greg a hand into the passenger seat. He drove straight to Colt's preschool, leaving Greg in the car, while he went inside to get him.

"Daddy." Colt crawled to his feet, running straight into his father's open arms.

"Hey, darlin'." Climbing to his feet, Nick clutched his son tightly in his arms, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he adjusted him against his chest. After working the case of a baby all day, he was relieved to finally be holding his own in his arms again. "What have you been up to today then?"

"I painted." He pointed across the room, to the drying paintings that were hanging up against the window. Nick immediately recognised his son's art work in the middle, as it was the only painting of a bright red fire truck. He proudly pressed a kiss to his son's forehead, hoping he never had to go through what Leah went through, making him feel guilty for even thinking that.

"Mr Stokes." One of the women that worked at the preschool flagged him down, ushering him to one side away from the other parents. "Mr Stokes, I'm terribly sorry but there was a little accident today. Colt and one of our other boys took a tumble today. They had a disagreement over who got to ride the blue tractor. The other boy pushed Colt off in order to get on and Colt hit his head when he went down."

Nick looked at her wide eyed, wondering why they didn't call one of them to let them know.

"We had him checked over by our onsite nurse," She took a step closer, gently brushing aside Colt's hair to show him where it was. "There's no bump there, but it is a little bit red, so we thought we'd just let you know in case. We've been keeping a close eye on him, but he hasn't complained of any pain. The nurse has been checking on him too. He stopped crying almost immediately after we picked him up. I think it was just the shock of it that made him cry."

Nick inspected the red patch for himself, feeling for himself to see if there was a bump. He knew that a knock to the head could cause later problems, making him worry even more as sometimes there wasn't even any symptoms before they passed out from some kind of blood clot on their brain.

"Mr Stokes?" She gave him a curious look, hoping he wasn't going to settle this with a law suit of some kind. "The nurse can check him over again, if you'd like?"

"No, it's okay. Thank you." He carried his son away, checking him over for himself as he took him across the street to the car park. He sat him down in his car seat, checking for a bump on his head again, getting a curious look from Greg sat in the front. "He bumped his head today. I was just checkin'."

"He's bumped his head loads of times. Unless he's dizzy, sleepy or acting a little off, you're not supposed to worry." Greg informed him, having read more than a few books on the subject of kids injuring themselves around the house or out at the playground. "Can you feel a bump?" He turned as much as he could on his seat, looking at his toddler for himself.

"Nope."

"His eyes look okay and he's not throwing up or disorientated, so I think we're good." He gave his husband a reassuring smile. "The nurse there is really good anyway. If something was wrong, she woulda called us right after it happened."

Nick wasn't sure whether to trust this woman's opinion or not, so he kept a close eye on Colt as he drove them home. Greg wasn't worried as their son was his usual chatty self, asking questions about things he saw on the street. He didn't much care for a long explanation, he was just curious to know more about the world around him.

As soon as they returned home, Greg crashed straight into bed, falling asleep before Nick could even ask him if he was hungry. He left the younger man to his nap, getting himself and his son a sandwich instead. They had a few hours until dinner time, so it would fill them up for now, while they got on with trying to get things ready for the new baby.

"We build that?" Colt gave his father a curious look, pointing towards the box out in the hallway.

"Yep, we're goin' to build that for the new baby." Nick wiped his son's sticky fingers and chin with a cloth, returning to the kitchen to ditch it by the sink. "Hang on, bud. Don't open it down here. We'll take it upstairs and build it in the spare room."

"Daddy, if baby a guu-rl."

"A girl." Nick corrected him, kneeling down in front of his toddler to remove his dirty sneakers for him, before he brought all the dirt upstairs. "What if it is a girl?"

"Will dey stay with Nana?"

"No." His father smirked, wondering what made his son think that. "If the baby is a girl, she'll stay here with us. This will be her bed. Or his bed, you could get a little brother." He set his son's sneakers by the front door, checking that it was locked, before he lifted the box into his hands. "C'mon bud, let's go upstairs."

Colt hurried towards the stairs, holding the banister above his head as he carefully made his way up them. A painstakingly single slow step at a time, with his father struggling with a box behind him, but they eventually made it to the top.

The toddler made his way towards the spare bedroom, climbing onto the double bed that his Nana and Granddad usually stayed in. He watched his father placing the box on the floor, removing his pen knife from his back pocket, so he could cut through the tape around the box. He had often asked if he could just hold it, but Nick was adamant about his rule of no touching knives of any sort.

He replaced the pen knife to his back pocket, taking out the parts for the flat packed crib. He had never built anything from a flat packed box before, so he wasn't quite sure where to start.

Seeing some interesting toys to play with, Colt slid off the bed, making his way over to them. He cautiously stepped across the pine rails of the edge of the crib, lifting the bag of nuts and bolts into his hands.

"Daddy, what dis?"

"Eh... they're the screws that will hold all this together. Don't lose em." He warned him, guessing he needed some tools to fit all this together, as there wasn't any provided in the box. "Stay there a sec, bud. I'll be right back." He quickly made his way back down the stairs, going through the cupboard by the front door. He didn't actually have a tool box, but they had a few of Greg's father's tools that he had left behind. He quickly grabbed the two screw drivers they did have, hoping they would do the job, as they were the only two he had.

Nick hurried back up the stairs, finding Colt stood against the locked safely gate at the top.

"I hold it." He reached his hand out for the tools in his father's hand. "What is it?" He curiously studied the object in his hands.

"It's a screw driver." Nick ushered him back towards the spare bedroom. "Are you gonna give me a hand with this then?" Searching the box for the instructions, Nick gave out a heavy sigh as there wasn't anything else in the box. He looked at the parts he had in front of him, figuring it would be pretty easy. "Maybe we shoulda just used your old crib." He looked at his toddler in front of him, wondering how broken the catch on the old crib was.

It got damaged in the move, meaning it slid down all the time, rather than remaining up, so the baby wouldn't fall out.

"Wouldn't you like to have a baby sister?" Nick took a seat on the floor, looking through the nuts and bolts to try and figure out which piece went where on his own. "I grew up with five sisters. They were a lot nicer than my brother."

"Papa no have brother or sisters." Colt knelt down in front of him, curiously looking at the pieces of wood on the floor. "What dat for, Daddy?"

"That... I think it's bottom support rail." He took a look for himself, brushing his fingertips across the holes in the piece of wood. "Looks like it's long enough to fit across the bottom." He placed it on the floor in front of him, grabbing one of the side pieces, which had the same holes across the bottom. He lay down the parts across the floor where he thought they went, getting a clearer idea of how to fit them together once they were separated. "You should be good at this, you watch that Bill the builder thing all the time."

"Bob da builder." Colt corrected his father, shrieking as his father tickled his sides. "Bob da builder. Can we fix it? Yes we can. Bob da builder." He started singing, drumming the end of the screw driver against the wood in front of him.

"Shh, Papa's sleepin'." Nick slid the screw driver out of the toddler's hands, sitting him down beside him. "I might need you to hold some pieces for me. Think you can do that?"

"Yes we can!" He giggled, rolling over onto his back as his father tickled him again. "Daddy, please can I have baby sister?"

"We don't know if the little baby is a girl yet, we have to wait and see when they're born."

"How you tell?" Colt crawled to his feet, giving the man a curious look. "Daddy."

"Eh..." He struggled to think of a way to explain it to him. "Well, if the baby is a girl, she'll be different to you."

"How?"

Nick anxiously bit his lower lip, explaining, "Well Papa, you and me are boys. Nana's a girl. Your cousin, Tyler is a girl." He figured it was the easiest way for his toddler to understand, and it seemed to do the trick as he accepted the answer and got on with trying to help.

With Colt helping him, it took a lot longer than expected, but he did try and help out. He managed to match the lengths of the right screws to hand his father, then gave him the right tool to match to tighten it up.

"We're missin' one of these." Nick held up the bolt to son, seeing if he could find it anywhere. They had just fitted the mattress support into place, but one of the bolts from the sliding side were missing. He searched the floor on his hands and knees with his son, smiling as Colt found the bolt under the spare bed.

"I put it in." Colt scrambled to his feet, hurrying over to the cot. He pushed the bolt into the small hole on the side, before he grabbed the screw driver off the floor to give to his father.

"Good, boy." The man tightened it into place, pressing a kiss to his son's forehead when they finished. "One final thing." Nick climbed to his feet, lifting Colt inside the crib. He slid the side of the crib up, checking it stayed in place and held his son's weight, before he gave out a sigh of relief. "Pretty good, doncha think?"

"Yeah." Colt placed his hands on the edge of the crib, testing the side for himself. "We did good."

"We did. I don't know about you, but I'm thirsty." He lifted the tot into his arms, carrying him to the top of the stairs. He fiddled with the catch of the safety gate, getting directed by his toddler on which bit to pull to open it. "You better not teach that to your little brother or sister when they get here." He smiled at him, taking him down the stairs towards the second safety gate.

Greg thought he was being a little too cautious with the double gating, but it kept their kids safe, so he agreed to let them stay.

"Your Papa better wake up soon, we still have to pack before we head off to Nana's." Nick sat his son on the counter, wishing he hadn't gone along with Greg's lazy approach to packing for a holiday. They were due to leave in a few hours, so Colt would sleep on the drive over, but they hadn't packed a thing for their weeklong vacation with his mother.

He poured himself a glass of water, filling Colt's sippy cup with apple juice, before he joined him at the island. His son took his first swig, while Nick double checked the red patch to his head to make sure there still wasn't a bump.

"When Papa going to born the baby?"

"Papa doesn't decide." Nick gave him a wide grin, adoring his over active little brain. "Most baby's have to stay inside their parents tummy for nine months, but some of them come a little earlier than that. They have to stay in there that long to grow all their little fingers and toes." He tickled his son's little toes, getting an adorable giggle out of him. "They don't look like a baby when they first start growin'. Remember we told you that they start growin' from an egg?"

"I grew from a egg too."

"A very special egg." His father smiled at him, playfully ruffling his fingers through his hair. "The new baby is almost done growin'. We won't have to wait much longer, but we've still got a lot of things to get ready before it gets here."

Colt nodded in understanding, taking another sip of his juice.

"How about we go and start packin' some things for our holiday?" He suggested, sweeping Colt into his arms. "We'll tackle your stuff first. You better find that fire truck if you wonna bring it." He reminded him, carrying him back up the stairs.

"It's in bath." Colt pointed to the bathroom as they walked past it. He slid out of his father's arms, hurrying towards the bath to find his fire truck. His toys for bath time were all kept in a drawer above the shampoos and shower gels, so it was easy to find his fire truck.

Carrying it by the extendable plastic ladder, Colt hurried across the hall to his bedroom, making an airplane crash noise as he tumbled into his father's arms. "You're a crazy little monkey, bubba." Nick tickled him in his arms, smiling as he tried to imagine what it would be like to have another little Colt running around the house. "Okay c'mon, what clothes do you want to take with us?"

Colt struggled to his feet, looking through the drawer of his clothes in front of them. He selected a few of his favourite t-shirts, unfolding them as he passed them to his father behind him.

Nick refolded them to fit in the suitcase, stopping Colt as soon as the t-shirt pile went over twelve. "We're only goin' for eight days, kiddo. You'll need some shorts and trousers. Not too many. Think you can handle that while I get your PJ's?"

"Yeah." Colt drove his truck across Nick's leg, struggling to his feet to get some of his trousers and shorts out. He quickly picked out a few more of his clothes, taking the crumpled pile over to his father. "Daddy, I want nap." He rubbed his eyes, leaning against the man's side.

"I told you no nap today. We've got a long drive to Nana's house. You won't be able to sleep if you have your nap now." He felt a little guilty for not allowing his child to take a nap, but it was almost dinner time anyway, so it was a little too late for a nap now. "C'mon sleepy head, let's go wake Papa up for dinner." He ditched the clothes into the suitcase, carrying Colt across the hall to his room, where Greg was still slumbering.

He set his son on the bed, allowing him to bounce up and down beside the younger man, so he could wake him up. He climbed onto Greg's chest as he didn't wake up, getting tickled onto his tummy, as his father suddenly woke up.

"Careful." Nick stopped his son from falling onto Greg's stomach. He took a seat beside the younger man, gently brushing his fingers through his hair as he started to wake up. "Hey, sleepy head. We've been busy. We put the crib together."

"You did?" Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Greg struggled to sit up, moving Colt to sit beside him so he could breathe again. "Is it okay?"

"Yeah, great considerin' the fact we didn't have any instructions."

Greg chuckled softly, rolling his eyes at Nick. "It's on the back of the box. There's diagrams and everything." He playfully ruffled his fingers through Nick's hair, giving him a wide smile as the man didn't even take any notice of the box. "I'm sure it's fine. Don't worry about it." He hugged his son against his side, looking at his sleepy little eyes. "Did you skip his nap?"

"Yep, we're just about to make dinner. You comin' down?"

"Help me up." Greg reached his hands out to him, wincing slightly from the pain in his back as his partner helped him out of bed. "Have you started packing yet?"

"We've done some of Colt's things." Nick gently smoothed his hand across the younger man's lower back, wishing he could take away all his pain. As much as he wanted to have another baby with Greg, he didn't want to see him in any more pain. "I should be able to fit my things in his suitcase, then we just need to pack some of your things."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Greg gave him a nod, holding his stomach as he made his way to the bathroom. He really didn't feel like driving over to his mother's for the week, but he couldn't ruin his son's birthday surprise.

He joined them downstairs once he was done, helping Nick to chop some vegetables for their dinner. Colt only managed to eat half of his dinner before he got too tired, getting cranky as he couldn't sleep in his bed.

"You're goin' to have to take him, I gotta go pack the rest of our things." Nick handed the cranky tot over his partner. "This wouldn't have happened if we started packin' earlier."

"Just go, Nicky." Greg carried his toddler through to the front room, laying him on the sofa beside him, so he could put him in his pyjamas. "Your Daddy gets cranky when things aren't done his way too."

"Daddy, mad?" Colt gave the man a curious look, before he had to lift his arms over his head so Greg could remove his t-shirt.

"No, Daddy's cranky because we didn't pack everything earlier. He doesn't like doing things last minute." Greg lifted him onto his lap, pulling his pyjama top down over his son's head. "When you wake up, we'll be at Nana's house. Daddy won't be so stressed either."

"I don't want sleep in car."

"You'll fall asleep here, so you won't even notice you're in the car." He explained to him, placing his son on the sofa beside him again, so he could put his pyjama trousers on for him. "You're going to have to start dressing yourself soon. You're going to be four, a big boy, and we'll have our hands full with the new baby."

"I don't want be big boy." Colt crawled across the sofa into his father's arms, resting his little head against the man's chest. "Papa, when baby come?"

"Not long now." He leant back against the sofa cushions, cradling his baby boy against his chest. "I won't love them anymore than I love you though. You'll both be my baby's. You'll help me with your little brother or sister, won't you?"

"Yeah. I want da baby be a girl."

"We won't know until they're born. None of us can decide what the baby is going to be. Just like none of us could decide if you were going to be a girl or a boy. Your DNA is the only thing that can do that."

Colt remembered his father explaining to him what his DNA what, but he still didn't quite understand it. "Papa, if we all boys, how baby be a girl?"

"That's a little more complex for you to understand." Greg climbed to his feet with his toddler in his arms, carrying him through to the playroom. "I'll tell you all about it when you're a little older. What story do you want to read tonight?" He sat down on the chair beside the book shelf, letting Colt out of his arms to select a book.

He climbed back into his arms as soon as he picked one, getting himself relaxed against his father's chest, so he was comfortable enough to fall asleep.

After packing up enough clothes to last them all the week, Nick made his way downstairs, finding Greg reading their sleeping child the end of the story. He pressed a kiss to the top of Greg's head as an apology for snapping at him, before he took a seat beside him. He listened to the end of the story, giving Greg a smile as the younger man pressed a kiss to his sleeping child's forehead at the end of it.

"Did you get it all okay?" He spoke softly, looking into Nick's eyes in front of him.

"Yeah, I packed my things in with Colt's. Your clothes are in my duffel. I packed you some of my sweatpants that you like. We should get goin' soon." He pointed out the time to him. "Is there anythin' else that you need?"

"The bathroom." Greg lifted his son as he climbed to his feet, handing him over to Nick. "Are you sure you can drive the full stretch?"

"Greg, what did I tell you earlier? Just trust me and let me take care of everythin'."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six:**

"Daisy, Rosie, Lily, Violet, Clover, Blossom, Heather, Poppy..." Sara flipped to the next page of the baby name book, after catching Greg shaking his head to each name. She was trying to keep him company while he was in hospital, but she wasn't doing a very good job at trying to take his mind off the fact that he was even in hospital. "Florence, Ruth, Victoria, Flora, Viola, Ella..." She placed the book on the table in front of her, asking, "Are you okay? You've barely said a word to me since I got back. I'm sorry I took off without saying anything. It wasn't intentional, Grissom just..."

"It's not about that." Greg stopped her there, not even caring why she and Grissom suddenly disappeared. "This whole thing has just flown by. One minute I'm on the beach with Colt, watching him building a sand castle with his Daddy. The next I'm here, with all this. And I got my date scheduled for the c-section." He explained to her, anxiously biting his lower lip. "May 14th. Two days." He gulped hard. "As much as I want this baby to come out, it seems too early."

"At least you made it through March and April." She pointed out to him, as he had been fearing the whole time that the baby would come early. "You're finally going to get to meet your little girl or boy." She smiled at him, trying to get him to cheer up. "Nick told me about your holiday in California. He said you didn't seem very happy."

"He shouldn't be talking about me to someone else."

"It's only because he's worried." She defended the man, leaning forwards on her chair. "He thought that the break would give you some time to breathe before you took your maternity leave, but he said that you didn't seem like yourself the whole time. You feeling alright, Greg?"

"I'm fine. Bored out of my mind, but fine." He had spent the last two months on maternity leave, trying to take it easy.

But that was a lot easier said than done.

He had alphabetised just about everything in his house. Cleaned the place top to bottom, even the bathroom that he never usually went near on his cleaning spree. He had plenty of time to shop for the baby, which wasn't exactly a good thing, as he had far too many clothes now. He bought plenty of new baby toys that it wouldn't be able to play with for a while, but at least Colt wouldn't get annoyed that the baby would be playing with his toys.

"So, what changed your mind?" Sara changed the subject as she saw that he was uncomfortable. "Since January you thought this baby was a boy. How come you switched to a girl? Did the doctor tell you the gender while I was gone?"

"No... it just feels like a girl." He placed his hands on his stomach, being careful not to move the straps around his waist. They were monitoring his baby's irregular little heartbeats, making him even more worried about them. He had been in the hospital for the past two days, after his doctor first discovered that the baby's heartbeat had drastically changed. He wanted to go home after the first hour, but he had been stuck in the same room for the for past forty eight hours. "I'm sick of this now. It's so boring. I wonna go home. I miss my baby."

"Colt?" She guessed. "He's still in preschool isn't he?"

"Yeah, but I haven't seen him in two days. I didn't want Nick to bring him by while I'm strung up to all of this. Can you read some more names, please?" Greg requested. "When you're talking, it takes my mind off this." He motioned towards the machine beside him, that was constantly making an unusual pounding sound in time with the baby's irregular heart beat. "And Sara, don't let this put you off having a baby of your own. My doc said this is quite common and eighty five percent of baby's with irregular heartbeats are born healthy with no problems." He tried to reassure her.

The woman gave him a nervous smile, before she grabbed for the book in front of her again. She turned to a page of Popular girls names, reading them out to settle the younger man's nerves. "Madison, Chloe, Mackayla, Sophie, Emma, Louise, Lauren... I had a friend called Lauren in middle school. Always thought it was a really nice name."

"Nick has a niece called Lauren." Greg informed her. "I liked Ava and Jessica too, but he's got nieces with those names too. One of his sister's called her daughter, Georgia then two years later another one called their baby girl, Georgina, and there was a big argument. They've still got their full names, but they practically had to have a family court settlement to nickname their kids George and Gina."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope, happened right in Mama Stokes' front room. The nicknames was the only idea she had that would stop her daughters from tearing one another's eyes out."

"Wow, I had no idea." Sara flipped the page, deciding that popular names wasn't such a good idea. "Early American girls names? Charity, Chastity, Hope, Grace, Faith, Virtue... they sound like hookers." She turned the page again, noticing that Greg was watching the monitor beside him. The pounding train sound rapidly increased for a few seconds, before it all suddenly went quiet. "What's that? What does it mean?"

The younger man remained silent, hoping it didn't mean what he thought it meant. He turned his head towards the door as nurse suddenly appeared, quickly making her way over to him to see what happened.

"Don't worry, nothing to worry about." She assured him, adjusting the strap around his waist, trying to find the heartbeat again. "Happens all the time, especially when baby is stretching their legs out. Baby moves around, but the monitor can't follow them, so we're always having to adjust them." She tightened the strap as she found the heartbeat again, giving him a smile as the machine started making the familiar sound again. "There we go. Shouldn't be much longer now. Your doctor, Doctor Jordan is on his way in now."

"Thank you." Greg watched her leaving, before he turned his head to look at Sara beside him again. "When's Nick coming in again?"

Sara checked her watch, remembering that Nick had a meeting regarding his future employment as the assistant supervisor, before he could leave. He had warned her not to tell Greg about it, just in case he didn't get it, so she had to stall until he could get here. "Um... I think he still has about four hours left on his shift. Do you want me to call him?"

"No, I'm fine. Read some more names. We've gotta find a name for them before they get here."

"How about a name with a meaning?" She tried to find the chapter for that, surprised that there was even this many pages of names. "Names that mean noble? Audrey, Freya, Patricia... wow, there's Lindsey. Do you think Catherine knew that her daughter's name meant noble when she named her?"

"I doubt it. She told me she chose it because she liked the sound of it."

"Okay." Sara glanced back at the book in front of her again. "Abigail? It means father's joy. Or Agatha. It means good and honourable. I wonder what Sara means." She searched for her name, getting a smile out of Greg.

"I know some names have different meanings to different cultures."

"Here it is. Pure." She read the name meaning with disgust, as she was hoping for something that was deep and meaningful. "Well, what does Greg mean?"

"Gregory." He corrected her. "It means watchful and alert. It's the second most popular name for the pope."

"I don't even want to know how you know that." She smiled at him. "How about names that mean love? It would go with that sentimental cowboy of yours. Amia, Cara, Cheryl, Darlene... not such a good idea in this day and age. Amy, Darla, Carina, Caralisa, Davita, Mandy, Cheri, Mindy, Venus... there's not very many. You'd think that there would be a lot of names that mean love. Not that there's really that much of it in this world."

"Do you have to be so cynical?" He adjusted himself on the bed, reminding her, "You're married now. You can't be so cynical about things like this."

"I'm not married like you're marred though. I don't spend every night with my husband, with him tending to my every need. I barely even eat a meal with him anymore. You practically spend every waking moment with yours." She pointed out to him. Placing the book on her lap, Sara inhaled a deep breath, deciding to come clean about something. "Greg... I... I didn't go on vacation with Grissom. Gil." She rolled her eyes at herself, as she was still referring to her husband by his surname.

"Where did you go?" He gave her a curious look.

"A couple of months ago, Gil and I started talking babies." She anxiously gripped the edge of the book, looking at Greg in front of her. "Officially this time, as in planning on having a little Gil or Sara walking around. We've been trying for a while and two months ago, I got a positive result on a pregnancy test." Greg watched as the woman gripped the book tighter, explaining, "I lost it a couple of weeks after that. Gil stayed here... I went to my mother's."

"Sara... I..." Greg suddenly felt really selfish for asking her to come here to keep him company. The last thing she'd want to do after losing a baby was sit beside the bed of someone who was about to have one. "If you want to go."

"I'm okay." She spoke softly, giving him a reassuring smile. "It might have been a false positive. It was only two weeks after that I started bleeding... I can't believe I'm telling you this." Sara combed her fingers back through her hair, trying to keep up her smile. "It wasn't really a baby. Not like yours. Yours is a full grown baby, almost ready to face the world. How about names that mean happy?" She turned back to the book. "Allegra, Trixie, Felicity..."

"Sara... you don't have to do this... if you don't want to. You can go home. I don't mind."

Sara shook her head. "I can't leave you here alone. Honestly Greg, I'm fine. I've been fine for a while. We've been talking about trying again as soon as things settle down with his job. Of course we actually have to be home at the same time as each other for that to happen. We're never home at the same time anymore. It's like we're not even living together. My place has no trace of him anyway. You don't have that problem, do you?"

"Not until a few months ago." Greg shook his head, as his life had no trace of Nick in it for three years. "And for the record, I haven't had sex since Christmas. It's May. At this point, I wouldn't blame Nick for using his right hand."

Sara cringed at the thought of her own husband doing that, wondering why it bothered her so much. "So, what do you think of the names?"

"I like Allegra." Greg placed his hand on his stomach, giving out a sigh. "Another one of Nick's nieces though."

"How many nieces does he have?" Sara looked at him surprised.

"Total, I don't know. But he said his Mama has twenty seven grandchildren. Girls are more common in his family, so most of them already have all the cool girly names." He adjusted himself on the bed, feeling as though his legs were going to sleep. "Twenty seven grandchildren is quite an achievement though. Can you imagine her birthday card list? Nick is always forgetting his own sisters birthdays. His mother's personal calendar must be bleeping everyday with somebody's birthday reminder."

"Along with this little one's soon." She flipped over to the next page in the baby names book. "Does Nick have a Jennelle in his family?"

Greg thought about it a moment, before he shook his head. "Nope. What would we call her for short though? Jen or Nelle?" He didn't really like the sound of them, so he shook his head, getting her to move onto the next page. "I don't think she even acknowledges that I'm part of the family. She was great with Colt when he was a baby, but since Nick and I have got back together, she hasn't exactly been the open armed grandmother that she was before. Nick didn't even want to tell her about this one after how she took the news of our engagement."

"She still doesn't know?" She looked at him surprised. "I've never really gotten along with Gil's mother, but we've worked out our differences. I wouldn't hide something like this from her."

"I'm not hiding it from her. She just doesn't know." He defended himself. "How much longer until Nick gets here now?"

"It's been fifteen minutes." Sara smiled at him. "What about Charlotte, Layla, Seraphina or Finley?"

"Finley's cute. I think Nick's family has a Flynne, but they're not too similar, right?"

"No." Sara shook her head, turning towards the door as there was a knock at the door. "There's Catherine. Hey, you're early. I thought you were coming by with Nick." She gave the woman the cut throat signal, reminding her that Nick didn't want Greg to know about the job.

"Yeah... all the overtime." She came up with an excuse. "I got done early, so I thought I'd come by and see you now."

"Here." Sara handed the woman the baby names book from her hands. "I've gotta get going. He thinks it's a girl today. Nick's gonna come by once his shift is over." She grabbed her coat and handbag, pressing a kiss to Greg's forehead as she hugged him goodbye. "Call me if anything happens, okay."

"Okay." Greg gave her a nod, wishing he wasn't stuck in a bed, so he could go with her.

"Bye, Catherine."

"Bye." Catherine gave the woman a smile goodbye, before she made her way round Greg's bed. She hugged him tightly a moment, before she pulled out a little stuffed tiger from her bag. "Lindsey and I picked it out."

"Wow. Thank you." He held it close to his chest. "Colt still has the giraffe you bought him."

Catherine smiled as she took a seat on the edge of his bed. "So you think it's a girl today? You're carrying a little too low for it to be a girl."

"You don't honestly believe in all those old wives tales, do you?" Greg giggled softly, adjusting himself to sit up straight. "Besides, it wasn't this low two days ago. Doc said the baby's head dropped into my pelvis over night. I can really feel it too."

"You've got cold hands too, that's another sign of a boy." She continued with her superstitions.

"Or bad circulation." He grinned at her. "I had acne with Colt. Everyone said that was a sign of a girl, because they take your beauty away, but he came out a boy. Doctors say that those old wives tales are only fifty percent true. And different cultures have different beliefs on gender prediction, so it's all crap really." He placed his hand on his side, feeling a sudden cramp coming on. "Besides, I've been eating chocolate and sweets since the beginning. Craving sweets is a sign of a girl."

"Are you in pain?" She noticed him clutching his side again. "Do you want me to get someone for you?"

"No, I had them yesterday too. My doctor said they were just Braxton hicks contractions. They've been coming and going all the time." He tapped the book in her hands as he titled his head back against his pillow. "You wonna help me out with names?"

"Sure." She opened the book in her lap. "When we were choosing for Lindsey, we were at it for weeks. We had miles of lists. The moment she was born, I thought one of the names we had picked would immediately fit. It wasn't until I was alone, holding her in my arms that one of the names really fit her. The moment she opened her eyes and looked at me, she was Lindsey."

Greg smiled at her, desperately hoping that he got to hold his baby at the end of all of this. "Start on the short baby names."

"Okay." Catherine tried to find the right page. "You want me to just read out the whole list?"

"From the girls side, yeah."

"Okay." She smiled at him, starting at the top of the list. "Ava, Fern, Opal, Rose, Tia, Amy, Lyra... you'd think they'd put it in some kind of alphabetical order. Alice, Iris," She continued, giving out a sigh as the younger man continued to shake his head. "What you need is a pen and paper. You and Nicky can write separate lists of names you like, then you can compare lists and choose one that you both like."

"Do you have a pen?" He asked her, watching as she immediately started to rifle through her bag. "I've already gone through so many names, it's hard to remember any of them."

"Exactly my point, if you write down your favourite ones, you'll remember them for later." Catherine handed him a pen, before she searched for a piece of paper.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Greg's Doctor knocked at the door, quietly stepping inside. "Still picking out baby names, I see."

"Helps take my mind off this." His patient motioned towards the machine beside him. "This is my friend, Catherine. This is my doctor, Doctor Jordan. It's okay, you can talk in front of her."

"Okay." Doctor Jordan stepped closer, setting his patient's notes on the table in front of him. "I know we scheduled the c-section for two days time, but if it's alright with you, I'd like to get the baby out a little earlier. There's nothing to be too worried about, but as I said before, baby has moved down into your pelvis. Your hips aren't as wide as they should be, so it's putting some pressure on baby and possibly the cord. Normally they wouldn't stay in this position for very long, as its the birthing canal, but obviously with you it's a little different."

"So it's me?" Greg gave him a fearful look.

"No, baby is just a little too determined to face the world right now. So, have you had anything to eat today?" As the younger man shook his head, he gave him a smile. "Alright, I'll book you in for later today. Until then, you should get some sleep and try to stay calm. If you'd like to call whoever you'd like to be with you, that's fine. Only one person in the operating theatre with you, but you can have visitors after."

"Thank you." Greg tilted his head back, even more terrified now. He thought that he still had two days left to prepare, but he would meet his baby in a matter of hours now. "You have to call, Nicky." He immediately looked at Catherine beside him, once the doctor was gone. "And my Mom and Dad. My Mom said she'd take Colt. He's at preschool at the moment."

"Don't worry about anything." She tried to reassure him, suggesting, "You should get some sleep. You remember how tired you were after your last one." She pressed a kiss to his forehead, while she took her phone outside to start calling Greg's family for him.

Greg couldn't believe how quick it had all gone. It seemed like just a few days ago he was getting inseminated, now he was about to meet the baby that had been growing inside of him, shortly after his first only just turned four.

After a few hours of sleep, Greg slowly fluttered his eyes open to the familiar sound of Nick's voice. He stretched his arms out on the bed, spotting the older man stood outside his room, with a phone pressed against his ear. He quickly said goodbye to whoever he was talking to once he saw that Greg was awake, making his way into the room to greet him with his usual passionate kiss.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too." Nick immediately replied, taking a seat on the edge of his partner's bed. "I'm sorry I left you today. I see you managed to get some sleep though. You haven't been able to sleep the past two days." He affectionately brushed his fingers through the younger man's hair, seeing the worry in his eyes. "Hey baby, c'mon. Everythin's gonna be fine." He climbed to his feet to hug him tightly, feeling Greg's arms snaking around his shoulders to hold him closer. "Trust me on this, okay? I'm not gonna let anythin' happen to you or our baby."

Clutching the man tighter, Greg closed his eyes, wishing he could believe him. But he still couldn't settle his nerves. He desperately tried to sleep again with Nick lying beside him, but it was a lot easier said than done with the constant train noise going beside him. It woke him up as it started to slow down, then when it suddenly started to speed up again, he clutched Nick tighter beside him.

"You wonna know why I was at work so late?" Nick tried to think of something to say, trying to keep Greg's mind off what was about to happen. "I got asked about the position of swing shift assistant supervisor."

"Did you take it?"

Nick gave him a nod, receiving a smile from the younger man. "I start next week as the official assistant swing shift supervisor."

"Try saying that ten times fast." Greg smirked, before he gave his husband a proud hug. "You are going to stick with it this time, right?" He teased him, playfully ruffling his fingers through the man's hair. "I'm kidding. I'm glad you're doing what you love again. And about what you were saying about letting you take care of me. I don't want to put all the pressure on you..."

"There won't be any pressure. I'm doin' this because it's my job to take care of my family."

"But I'm willing to give it a try." He finished what he was trying to say, before Nick interrupted him. "If it gets too much for you, you have to tell me though. You can't just keep going because you feel you have to. You've been through a lot more than me in the past three years. You need the break from it all more than me."

"Greg, I'm fine. I had cancer. I don't have it anymore." He reminded him. "I don't need you constantly lookin' out for me for somethin' that I had. I finally feel like myself again, so there's really no need for you to keep watchin' out for me." He combed his fingers through Greg's hair, adoring the pillow creased mess on his head. "It's my turn now. You're about to have a baby in..." He checked his watch, feeling his heart skipping as it was even closer now. "Less than an hour."

"I'm supposed to be getting my epidural soon." Greg cringed at the thought. "You're not going anywhere, are you?"

"No, I'm stayin' put." Nick climbed off the bed, grabbing for the nearest chair. He pulled it closer to the bed, removing the baby names book that was sat on the surface. "You been readin' through this again?" He flipped through it himself, taking a seat on the chair. "Found any good ones yet?"

"It's not so easy to find a name without you here, or knowing what the baby is." He pointed out to him. "Where's Colt?"

"With your Mom and Dad. They're at ours with Tyler and your Aunt Chrissie, until this little one is out." He smoothed his hand across the younger man's stomach, leaning over him to press another kiss to his cheek. "Honey, don't look so worried. Everythin's gonna be okay."

"I'm scared." He whispered softly, adjusting his head against the pillow. "I never thought my life would turn out like this. I'm married to a guy I don't deserve and I have the most amazing four year old. Now I'm about to go into surgery to get the next one cut out of me."

"Not quite as dramatic as that." Nick gave him a slight smile. "And you do deserve me."

The younger man gave him a smile, pulling him closer to hug him tightly. "I'm glad you're here this time." He gently combed his fingers through Nick's soft hair, feeling the man's heartbeat against his own. "I love you, Nicky. You know that, right?"

"I know. I love you too."

While he was still hugging Greg, Nick didn't even notice that Doctor Jordan had stepped into the room, remaining by the door until the two of them finished. As soon as they broke apart, he helped Greg to sit up, so the anaesthetist could get him set up with an epidural before his c-section.

Nick held his hands the whole time, helping him to keep still as the needle went into his back. He really didn't want him to go through any of this painful part, but he knew that it was better for both him and the baby if they got it over and done with.

Greg breathed out as soon as it was in, releasing his grip on Nick's hands until the colour returned to them. The doctor then talked them through the procedure, telling them to relax for a moment, until he came to get them for the c-section.

"Are you sure you don't want your Mom here?" Nick retook his seat on the chair beside the bed, adjusting the cover's over Greg's chest for him.

"No, I want you here." Greg held Nick's hand at his side. "It doesn't matter that she was here last time. You're here now and I want you. You did remember to bring the hospital bag, right?"

"Yep." Nick pointed to the bag against the wall. "I double checked it before I got here. Got the camera too. Your Mom wants lots of pictures of her next grandchild." He reached for the stuffed tiger on Greg's bedside table, giving him a confused look.

"Catherine got it for the baby. Oh," He suddenly remembered. "You need to call Sara and Wendy before we go in. They wanted to know when..."

"Okay, okay." Nick stopped him there, pulling his cell from his pocket. "I'll take it outside. Be back in five minutes." He promised, pressing a kiss to the younger man's forehead as he climbed to his feet. "I'll call your Mom too, tell her we're about to go in."

"Nick." Greg called after him, stopping him in the doorway. "Love you."

The older man smiled back at him, relieved that Greg wasn't still fearing that he was about to run out on him. He quickly made his way outside to make his calls, telling each of the three women the news in brief sentences, so he could quickly get back to Greg.

As soon as he got back, there was a computer image of his baby set up beside the bed. He gave Greg a smile as he sat down, watching the technician moving the device around on Greg's stomach, trying to see the exact location of the baby.

"See this part here," She motioned to something alongside the baby. "That's the umbilical cord. This part up here is the placenta, still firmly attached to the uterus. Your baby's head is right down here." She moved the device further beneath Greg's navel, showing them a side view of the baby's facial features. "I'll get these to the doctor. We'll be back in a minute to take you through to surgery."

"Okay." Greg grabbed one of the wipes she handed him, wiping away the sticky goo from his stomach. He gave Nick an anxious smile beside him, starting to feel more excited than scared, as he was so close to meeting his baby. "What did my Mom say?"

"I got your Dad. Your Mom was in the garden with Tyler and Colt. He was practically in tears when I told him we're about to go in. He said to call him as soon as we get out, so he knows everythin' went okay." He pushed himself to his feet, giving Greg a hand to adjust the gown over his stomach. "C'mon baby, no tears. You're about to have a baby."

"I'm fine." He inhaled a deep breath. "The little body suits and stuff are in that bag, right?"

"Yeah, I double checked. The newborn ones and the one to three months ones, but I doubt they'll need them yet."

"It's just in case. You never can tell how big or small they are." Greg looked towards the door, gulping hard as the nurses returned. He felt as though he was in the midst of a panic attack as they were unhooking him from the monitors, so they could take him through to surgery. "Nicky."

"I'll be right there, G." Nick assured him, taking the scrubs that the nurse had offered him. He quickly changed into them, washing his hands as directed, starting to get even more nervous himself. He followed the nurse down the hall towards the maternity wing once they were ready for him, anxiously biting his lower as he stepped into a room full of surgical equipment. Greg was already lying on the table, with a sheet hanging above his chest, stopping him from being able to see anything.

"Hey," Nick took his hand into his own, taking a seat on the chair the nurse had set up for him. "I'm here, baby." He pressed a kiss to Greg's forehead, starting to feel a little queasy. He had seen his fair share of blood, guts and body parts over the years, but he had never witnessed a live surgery on someone he loved. His own surgery suddenly flashed through his mind, reminding him of all the pain he experienced afterwards, making him suddenly regret wanting Greg to ever go through this.

"You look worse than me." Greg smirked, brushing his thumb across Nick's cheek. "I can't feel anything. Don't worry. And don't look." He pulled him closer, so his view of the surgery about to take place was obstructed. "You don't have to cut the cord if you don't want to either. They do it over there, anywhere." He pointed towards the familiar cooling table, where Colt was taken as soon as he was out.

"I'm fine." Nick assured him, holding Greg's hand a little tighter. "I'm nervous. More nervous than I was when I met Colt for the first time. And he smacked his head on the table within the first five minutes of meetin' me."

Greg giggled softly, shaking his head at the man. "He doesn't remember it like that. He remembers it as the first day he met his real Daddy."

"Alright, we're all ready, Greg." Doctor Jordan announced, checking with his team, before he started.

"Let me know if you can feel anything." The woman by Greg's head warned him, giving him a smile as she checked on the monitors beside her.

Greg gulped softly, tilting his head back to look into Nick's eyes above him as his doctor made the first cut across the old c-section scar on his abdomen. He felt a strange tugging sensation as he cut through the next few layers, towards his uterus.

"We didn't put the crib in our room yet." Nick suddenly remembered, trying to take both of their minds off it. "I set up the car seat in my truck, but I forgot to move the cot. Your Mom washed all the clothes again. Colt helped to fold them all and put them in the chest of drawers in our room."

Greg smiled at him, missing his little boy again. "What did you tell, Colt?"

"That you're about to have his baby brother or sister soon. He's really excited about it. He still wants a little sister though." Nick took a peak around the screen, wishing he hadn't as the doctor's hand was practically inside his partner's body this time, with a pair of scissors in his hands.

After a few minutes went by, there was the sound of a sudden gush of water. The nurse beside them explained that it was just his waters going, meaning that the baby would be out within the next few minutes.

Nick managed to brave another look, spotting a tiny little leg sticking out this time. He almost burst into tears at the sight of their tiny little toes. Every perfect little pink toe had a nail to it and tiny little wrinkles at the joints.

As the second doctor applied some pressure to Greg's stomach, they cautiously guided out a second perfect little leg. The bottom and back was next to follow, with a bluish cord wrapped around it. It didn't constrict them from moving their little legs though.

"What can you see?" Greg asked as the man's eyes had started to glaze over.

Nick tried to form words in his mouth to tell him what he could see, but the second he caught sight of a tiny little hand, he couldn't say a word.

Blue little fingers with long fingernails.

Wrinkly little palms.

Short little arms curled tightly to their chest.

It was all just a little too overwhelming for him.

The doctor hooked his fingers over their tiny little shoulders, so he could ease them the rest of the way out. The head came out a few seconds later, revealing a slightly blue little face. Their lips and tiny little eyes looked just like Colt's, causing the tears from Nick's eyes to spill.

"Here we go. You wonna see what you got?" Doctor Jordan lay the baby down on Greg's legs, so they could quickly clamp and cut the cord. He carefully lifted the baby into his hands, holding the tiny bundle above the sheet, so Greg could take his first look at his baby.

The younger man stared in amazement at the tiny baby, realising why Nick couldn't even speak. "A boy." He whispered softly, examining every inch of the tiny baby boy while he had the chance. He closed his eyes as soon as he was gone, feeling tears of his own coming on. He was pissed at himself that he got it wrong again, rolling his eyes at himself for ever believing his Nana Olaf when she said that he might have inherited her psychic ability.

Their newborn was quickly carried over to the cooling table across the room, where the nurses were ready and waiting for him. As soon as a second nurse started to clean the baby with a towel, he let out a gurgled cry at the top of his lungs, bringing smiles to both Nick and Greg's lips, as if it was the most beautiful sound they had ever heard.

While the doctors were stitching Greg up again, one of the nurses called Nick over to join them to meet his baby.

Checking it was okay with Greg before he left, Nick slowly climbed to his feet, joining the nurses across the room. He stood at the end of the cooling table, watching as his baby's boy's adorable lower lip quivered. He didn't look as blue as he did a few minutes ago, but he didn't seem to like the towel that the nurses were trying to wipe him down with.

"Would you like to cut the cord?" The older nurse asked, placing a blue clip closer to the baby's belly button, so Nick could cut the rest of the cord. He hesitantly took the scissors into his hands, wishing he could just pick up his crying baby boy, but he knew that they still had so much more to do, before they could finally hold him.

Nick cautiously cut through the umbilical cord, cringing at the sight of the blood. He feared that he was hurting him by doing it, but his cries didn't change to a scream of pain, indicating that he really couldn't feel it.

The nurse gently wrapped their baby up in a blanket, before she carried him over to the table, so Greg could see him up close. They placed the bundled baby beside his head, surprised that the baby almost immediately stopped crying, for the first time since he came out. Greg had only just placed his hand around his baby, which seemed to be just enough to settle him.

As soon as Greg was stitched up, they wheeled him out of theatre with his baby boy, taking him back to the ward to recover. The nurses immediately took his son away from him again though, taking him to be checked over by the paediatrician with Nick in toe.

A woman in her late thirties shook Nick's hand, introducing herself as Doctor Muller, before she stepped up to his son lying on the cooling table in the room. His son had started sucking his fingers to calm himself, making the most adorable sucking sounds as he tried to open his eyes for the first time.

"Good sucking reflex, that's always a good sign." Doctor Muller unravelled him from the blanket keeping him warm, making the little boy start to fuss again. "Oh dear, I'll be done as quick as I can, baby boy." She started checking his head first, making sure everything was normal, before she continued to check the rest of his body, only making him cry more and more. "Good set of lungs." She smiled at the anxious father beside her.

Nick was anxious to find out if his son's heart was okay now, wondering exactly what they did with baby's who had abnormal heartbeats. One or two of his sisters babies had been born with an abnormality. He knew that one of their little girls was born premature and spent seven weeks or so in an incubator. He had no idea what was wrong with the other one, but now he was starting to feel like a bad brother as he was in the same situation as them now.

The woman removed the stethoscope from around her neck, putting the buds in her ears so she could listen to the baby's heartbeat.

"This isn't very easy with you screaming your little head off, baby boy." She chuckled softly, listening carefully for any unusual sounds in his chest. "Fine." Doctor Muller reported, assuring the new father that his heart rate was completely normal and healthy for a newborn baby. "Let's get you weighed now, little one. Not much longer now, then we'll leave you alone." She assured the crying little boy, placing him on the scales which only made him even more uncomfortable.

"Six pounds... exactly." The nurse reported, resetting the scales to make sure. The weight came out the same again, so she wrote it on the birth certificate she had with her, giving Nick a reassuring smile. "Don't look so worried, Mr Stokes. You have a very healthy little boy here." She took over from the Doctor, carefully pressing a black ink pad against the little boy's foot for his birth certificate. She did the same with the other, whispering, "Don't curl your toes up, baby boy."

Finally she put him in a diaper, wrapping him back in his warm blanket, so he could go back with his father and sleep after his horrendous ordeal.

Struggling to sit up as he saw the baby cot being wheeled down the hall, Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, smiling as Nick was accompanying the tiny baby inside. "Is he okay?" His movement was limited, but that didn't stop him from trying to see his baby.

"Yeah, he's okay." Nick thanked the nurse, sliding his hands beneath his baby boy. He carried him over to Greg, carefully positioning him on the younger man's chest. "I called your Mom already. She's on her way. He's beautiful, Greg." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the younger man's forehead. "Just like you."

"He looks just like, Colt." Greg spoke softly, holding his little boy close against his bare chest. He tilted his head back against his pillow, looking up at Nick beside him. "Wow, that went fast. I thought it would take longer. Are you still crying?" He smiled in awe at him. "You wonna hold him again."

"No, he'll only start cryin' again. Besides, you've only just got him." The man took a seat on the edge of Greg's bed, smiling as he looked at their beautiful creation. "You're the only one that he's been completely calm with. It's like he knows that he came from you."

"He's smart." Greg brushed his thumb across his son's forehead, noticing his eyes beginning to open. He looked really tired, but his little eyes were a complete mirror image of the man's beside him. "I thought for sure that he was gonna be a girl. What are we gonna call him now? I only have girl names in my head."

Nick gave out a smirk, gently pressing another kiss to Greg's forehead. "Don't stress about it. He won't hold it against you that you thought he was a she. And we picked quite a few boys names before, we just have to decide which one fits." He reached for his phone as it bleeped, giving Greg a smile as he climbed to his feet. "Your Mom's here. I'll go get her."

"Can you call Sara again?" Greg called after him, giving him a smile as Nick promised he would. "I like having your Daddy here for this." He whispered, gently smoothing his palm down the tiny baby lying against him. When Colt was born, Greg was left in the dark, while his mother talked to the doctors and watched them checking him over. Even though he still wanted to be able to see the first moments of his baby's life, he was glad that it was Nick accompanying their son this time around.

It meant that he could relax and enjoy his first few moments with his newborn baby.

"Hello." His mother appeared in the doorway, speaking softly as she quietly entered the room. She pressed a kiss to her son's forehead, before she turned all of her attention to her new grandchild lying against his chest. "So beautiful." She immediately wept, getting the familiar eye roll from her son. "What? You know what I'm like with babies. Girl or boy? Nicky never said on the phone."

"Boy."

She gave him a smug smile for his wrong prediction, before she gently placed her hand on the adorable little boy's back. "He's gorgeous. Look at those tiny little fingers. He looks just like you when you were born. More than Colt did."

"More than Colt did?" Greg looked at her confused.

"Well, when he was born. He was a combination of Nick and you. This little boy looks more like you than Nick. He's gonna look just like you when he grows up." She smiled at him, turning towards the door as her husband and Nick stepped into the room. Nick was holding their son, Colt in his arms, who had fallen asleep on the car drive over, while her husband, Daniel was holding Tyler's hand. "Poor thing wore himself out with excitement. He couldn't stop talking about the baby since we told him. I hope you don't mind, Tyler wanted to see the baby too."

"No, I don't mind. Hi, Tyler." Greg smiled at his cousin, raising one of his arms as his father immediately stepped forwards to hug him. "I'm okay, Dad." He closed his eyes, after noticing a tear in the man's eyes too. He had never really seen his father cry, but his mother did say that he was a big softie when it came to baby's.

"So, what are you going to name him?" Greg's mother made her way round the other side of the bed, getting a closer look at her second grandson. "He's gorgeous, look at those long lashes."

"We haven't actually decided yet." He adjusted his son, letting his mother lift him free from his arms for her first hold. He thought that he was going to start crying again, but the baby boy continued to suck his fingers, resting quietly in the woman's arms. "He hasn't liked anyone else holding him so far. He has a really different cry from Colt. He makes this cute gurgling noise as his lip quivers."

"You won't think it's cute when he's waking you up all hours of the night." His mother smirked, taking a seat beside Nick on the chairs against the wall. She looked between her two adorable grandchildren, beginning to feel a little emotional again. "You haven't dressed him yet?" She opened the blanket, realising he really was only in a diaper.

"No, we only just got him back. You're early." Greg pointed his father to the bag on the chair. He quickly retrieved the bag, setting it down on the bed beside his son, so he could pick out the clothes he had prepared for their baby. "Can you show Nicky how to do it?" He held out the little white baby grow, along with the matching little hat to keep his head warm.

"Daniel, take Colt a moment." His mother instructed, carefully climbing to her feet with the baby. She set him in the baby cot beside Greg's bed, softly cooing him as he gave out a whimper. "C'mere then, Daddy." She ushered Nick closer, opening the blanket around her grandson to show Nick how to carefully dress him.

His son fussed a little as his father guided his head through the top part of his clothes, but he didn't even make a noise as his arms went through the sleeve holes. He gazed around through his sleepy little eyes, kicking both his legs in the air as if he was riding a bicycle.

"You look tired." Greg's father spoke softly, gently placing his sleeping grandson on the bed with him.

"I am." Despite the pain he was in, Greg hugged his child tightly, wishing he would wake up soon, so he could meet his baby brother. He quickly closed his eyes as the flash of a camera suddenly blinded him, rolling his eyes as the flash came from his father's phone. "You're supposed to take pictures of the baby." He pointed out to the man, waiting for the colour to return to his vision.

"I did. My boy with his baby." He showed him the picture, giving his son a smile, before he made his way over to the cot on the other side of the bed. He took a picture of Nick with his second grandson, before his wife insisted that he have a hold of the baby boy. "He looks just like Greg did." He immediately noticed as he got an up close look.

"He's a miniature, Greg." Jean agreed, smirking, "I'm sure he'll grow into his ears too."

"His ears aren't that big." Greg scowled at his mother, quickly taking another look for himself. His son's ears did stick out slightly, but they weren't that noticeably big in comparison to the rest of his head. "There's nothing wrong with his ears."

"I'm teasing." Jean quickly reached for her phone as it started to ring, smiling as it was her sister in law, Chrissie. She opted to stay at their house because of the twins, but she still wanted to know how it all went. "Hello... yes, he's had the baby. Uh huh... a little boy." She took it outside into the hall, telling her all about her adorable grandson.

"I'm starving." Greg spoke up, feeling as though his stomach was completely empty.

"You did just lose a lot of weight in one go." His father pointed out to him, letting Nick take his son back. He felt guilty for holding onto him for so long, remembering how it was for himself when he first became a father.

When Greg was born, they had half their family in the waiting room with them. The first day his son arrived, Daniel just watched as their family members passed him around between them, commenting on all of his beautiful features. The first time he really got to hold him uninterrupted, Greg was already three days old.

"Do you want me to get you something to eat?" He suggested, pressing a kiss to his son's forehead as he left the two of them alone with their family for a moment. "I'll be right back, Tyler. Take a seat beside, Nick." He directed his niece over to one of the chairs, before he left the room.

"Wonna see?" Nick gave her a smile, giving her a closer look of the baby in his arms. Tyler made her way around her cousin's bed, stopping in front of Nick to see the new baby. He opened the blanket slightly, giving Tyler a smile as she carefully studied the little boy in his arms. "He really does look just like you, G." He smiled at Greg, looking between their two little boys. "My brother and me have never looked alike. Even our baby pictures don't look alike."

"He is ten years older than you." Greg pointed out to him, giving him a wide smile. "Maybe your parents' DNA matured a little for you. You got more of their better qualities." He rested his head back against his pillow, looking at their two beautiful boys in their arms. "I imagined holding this newborn baby like a million times in my head, but I never thought he'd be this amazing. I forgot how tiny Colt used to be. He looks even smaller. How much did he weigh?" He suddenly remembered that he never asked.

"Six pounds."

"Wow." Greg spoke softly, watching their baby's tiny hand movements as he stretched out in Nick's arms. "They're so different already. Colt was really quiet as soon as he was out. Mom said when he was being checked over by the doctor, he just curiously looked at everything."

"This little one cried his eyes out the second anyone touched him."

"I think he's got your hair." The younger man brushed his fingertips across the short strands of dark hair sticking out the little hat on his head. "I'm glad you're here for this." He tilted his head back, gracing his husband with a smile. "I don't think I coulda done it by myself again."

"Tyler," Greg's mother appeared at the doorway again. "Would you like anything from the machine?" She sensed that her son and his husband needed a moment together, so she led the child out of the room, taking her to the machine with her to get her something to drink.

Carefully climbing to his feet, Nick took a seat on the edge of his partner's bed, resting their heads together with their boys between them. "I wish the first time I saw Colt was when he was like this. First time I saw him, he was asleep in the pushchair outside your apartment and you were really pissed at me."

"Sorry about that." Greg giggled softly, cringing as he felt as though his stomach was splitting open. "Ow... I forgot about this part too. Weird how you forgot about all the blood, pain and misery when you think of bringing a baby into the world." He placed his hand on the top of his stomach, giving out a soft sigh. "I feel as though I've suddenly deflated or something."

"This little man was in there a few hours ago."

"We can't keep calling him, little man. My Dad nicknamed Colt, mini me, the first day he was born. He didn't have a name for almost four days after he was born." He remembered, trying to think of a name that would suit their new little boy. He blamed the fact that he couldn't think on the drugs being pumped into his system, but he couldn't chose one before this happened either.

"Reece?" Nick looked down at his son, shaking his head as it don't really go. "Jude, Wade, Boone..."

"Hillbilly-ish names?" Greg chuckled softly, immediately stopping with his face twisted in pain. "Oh my god, just knock me out. I thought he said this was the strong stuff."

"Colt is technically a little hillbilly-ish." His partner pointed out to him, using his own words. "Do you want me to go find your Doc? Is it that bad?"

"No. I'll live." He adjusted himself on the bed, backtracking on what Nick just said. "Colt is not hillbilly-ish. It's technically an Old English name." He pointed out to him, getting a grin out of his partner. "What do you think of Rex? Or he could be a Max. That's cute. Or Dexter. I still think that Jackson is cute. But I like Bentley, Micah, Sam, Axel. Or Harrison... Harry for short..."

"How about we sleep on it?" Nick stopped him there, getting more confused as he continued to add more names to the list. "He doesn't need a name his first day. Look, he's not bothered. He's just relieved to be away from those scary people in blue scrubs." He realised that his son was a lot more content in his arms now that he wasn't in scrubs himself, making him wonder if the nurses that were poking at him had scared him away from people in blue permanently from now on.

"Not Rex as in T-Rex." He quickly added. "I just like names that have an X in them."

"I have heard of the name, Greg." Nick looked down at their tiny son, with a worried look in his eyes. He wasn't worried about the baby's health anymore, more over the fact that he might not be around to take care of him.

"Hey Nick, you wonna take Colt home and put him to bed?" Greg suggested, starting to feel tired as his pain medication finally kicked in. "He'll have to see his baby brother tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay." Nick pressed a kiss to his partner's cheek. "As long as you're sure."

"Yep, Mom and Dad can stay with me, while you take him and Tyler back. Make sure he has Pancho with him. I'll send them home later." He cautiously watched as Nick placed their baby boy back in the crib beside his bed, being very careful of his delicate little figure. "Hey, Nicky."

"Yeah." He glanced up from the cot.

"I love you." Giving the man a wide smile, Greg opened his arms as the man made his way over to him to hug him tightly. "I know what's going through your head." He brushed his fingers through the man's hair, holding him closer as he felt his breath on his neck. "You've got to stop worrying. You're going to be here to see him grow up. Both of them."

"You don't know I'm thinkin' that."

"Yes I do." He corrected the man, pulling back to look into his eyes. "You forget that I know you inside - out, Nicky. I can tell what you're thinking just by looking into your eyes. You've been completely clear. I know you're gonna be okay. You have to believe it yourself to get past it."

Looking over his shoulder at their newborn, Nick whispered, "I'm startin' to. I feel like I've traded the nightmare for this fairytale."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven:**

"Oh dear, you really don't like me, do you?" Nurse Maggie gently placed the baby boy back on the cooling table, giving the young father a smile as his baby immediately stopped crying as soon as she had stopped touching him. "They never like me when it comes to bathing them." She took the wash cloth in her hands back over to the sink, getting it damp again, so she could continue with the baby's first bath. "Okay, I'm back." She giggled as he started crying as soon as the wash cloth touched his delicate skin. "You liked me before, when I was showing your Daddy how to feed you."

With his little arms and legs stretched out either side of him, the baby boy continued his adorable crying, until the nurse disappeared from his view. He made soft murmurs as he curled his little legs to his hips, before the woman returned again, sparking more cries of frustration.

"I don't miss that sound." A woman knocked at the door, giving Greg a smile as she stepped into the room. "Hello."

"Catherine." Greg struggled to sit up straight to hug her, wincing slightly as she hugged him too tightly in her excitement. "Ow, easy. I have just been through surgery." He pointed out to her, even though he was dosed up to his eyeballs on pain killers.

"Opps, sorry, I forgot about that part." She pecked a kiss to his cheek, abandoning his side a second later to look at the screaming infant across the room. "He's so tiny. I love their little hands and feet. It's hard to believe any of us were ever that small, but this is where it all starts."

Nurse Maggie smiled at the woman, while she carefully lifted the boy onto a white fluffy towel. "It's almost over. I just have to dry you now. Then we can go do your hair." Once she finished gently drying his delicate skin, she made her way back over to the sink with the wash cloth, searching for what she needed in the cabinet above the sink.

"Wow, look at that." Catherine gasped in amazement as the tiny boy had immediately stopped crying once the nurse was gone. He had his eyes tightly closed, with his little arms stretched out either side of him on the towel. He was making sucking movements with his mouth, looking as though he was dozing off to sleep. "Aww, he's gorgeous. Adorable. Completely like you. Look at those long lashes. And his adorable little face. Lindsey came out with a squashed little face and a pointy head, but he's perfect."

"He wasn't squeezed through a tiny hole like Lindsey." Greg pointed out to her, getting a smile out of the woman.

"Aww, I'm so jealous." She continued to fawn over him, realising what she just said. "Forget that, I don't want to do all that sleepless nights business again. You realise it never stops? Lindsey's a teenager now, and I still can't sleep at night."

"You won't scare me off it." The younger man giggled, "I've already had the baby, so it's too late to scare me off him."

"I know, and look at him. He's so perfect. A miniature you. Look at those tiny little fingers. Have you named him yet?" She noticed that his tiny little wrist band only had the name Stokes - Sanders on it, along with his date of birth.

"Not yet. We can't decide." Greg looked up at the clock, smiling to himself as his baby boy was now nine hours old. "He was born at nine twenty three pm on the twelfth of May. I wanted to get it tattooed on my shoulder, along with Colt's date of birth, but Nicky and my Mom won't let me."

Catherine chuckled softly, rolling her eyes at him. "Do you really need their permission to tattoo your babies dates of birth on your own body?"

"What do you think? Aren't you getting off shift a little early?" He suddenly realised.

"Oh, I'm still on shift." She gave him a guilty smile. "Brass is waiting for me outside. We were just collecting the personal possessions of our burn victim. I couldn't leave without seeing the baby. But Brass didn't want to intrude on you and Nicky. He's at home though, right?"

"Yeah, he's gonna get Colt up and ready to bring him by and meet his little brother."

"Aww, I bet he's really excited. I know I was when my mother was in the hospital with my baby sister. I didn't even know I had a sister until I got to the hospital. I loved her for about five minutes, then she started crying." Catherine grinned over her shoulder at him.

"Colt will love him." Greg assured the woman. "He might be a little disappointed that he's not a baby sister, but I know he'll love him."

"I'm sorry, I'm back." Nurse Maggie returned to the baby, giggling as he started crying again, before she had even touched him this time. "This is the last thing, I promise." She tightly wrapped him in the towel to keep him warm, calming him down slightly as his little body was tightly snuggled up. "Let's wash that beautiful hair of yours, then we're all done." She took him over to the sink to wash his hair, setting him off the second she poured a little bit of water over his head with her hand. "You'll learn to like baths eventually, sweetheart."

"Lindsey was just the same." Catherine took a seat beside Greg's bed, remembering Lindsey's first bath like it was yesterday. "She didn't stop crying the whole time. She was practically blue in the face when I got her back."

"It's good for them to cry after they're born. Opens up their new little lungs." Nurse Maggie gently dried his hair, returning him to the cooling table to wrap him in the warm blanket. She returned his little cotton hat to his head, before she lifted him into her arms, taking him back to Greg on the bed. "There we are. All done. We'll leave his clothes off for now. I'll just go and get some diapers. Be back in a flash."

"Thank you, Maggie." Greg called after her, turning his gaze to the little life in his arms. He was quietly making sucking noises again, completely content now that he was warm again. "Have you heard from Sara?" He glanced up at Catherine beside him. "She wanted to be here after he was born, but she hasn't showed up yet. Nicky called her twice, but there was no answer."

"No, I haven't seen her. We're on different shifts now, so I barely see her at all anymore." She climbed to her feet, getting a closer look at the little boy. "I can call her on my way back to the lab. She's probably sleeping after her busy shift. Did you call the mother in law yet?"

"No." The younger man shook his head, keeping his eyes focused on his baby boy.

"Are you going to?"

"Don't know." He shrugged. "It's really up to Nick. He still hasn't told her that he had cancer. He hasn't spoken to her in a while, so I don't think she even knows that I was pregnant. You don't need her anyway, do you?" He lifted his son a little higher in his embrace, pressing a kiss to his delicate forehead. "You've got the most amazing Daddy that will do anything for you."

Catherine smiled in awe at him and his baby, wishing she could stay longer. "Well, I should go. I just stopped by for a quick visit on my way back to the lab." She snapped a quick picture of the two of them with her phone, giving him a wide smile as he hated pictures being taken of him. "So I can show the guys at the lab, Lindsey and my mother. They've been asking after you since I saw you this morning. Well, yesterday morning." She corrected herself. "Lindsey and my mother that is. The guys at the lab don't even know that you've gone into hospital."

"I was going to tell them, but I was more worried about my baby." He defended himself. "I'll call you later. Might have a name for him by then."

Catherine gave him another quick hug, cooing over the baby one last time, before she left the room. She texted Brass to tell him that she'd be right down, spotting Nick as soon as she looked up from the elevator. "Nicky," She threw her arms around him to hug him tightly, whispering, "I saw him. He's amazing. Gorgeous. Congratulations, Daddy." She pulled back as she realised Colt wasn't with him, asking, "Where's, Colt? I thought you were bringing him in to see his brother."

"I don't have my keys on me." He smirked, double checking each of his pockets. "I must have left them with Greg. I made it all the way to my truck, before I realised I didn't have them. My heads been all over the place for the past few hours."

"Understandable." She chuckled softly, giving him another hug. "I gotta go. Look after Greg."

"I always do." He gave her a smile, giving her a wave as he returned to Greg's room. "Hi, baby." The Texan immediately greeted his husband with a passionate kiss, before he took a seat on the bed to take another look at his baby boy. "I've lost my keys."

"Any excuse to get back here and see us." Greg grinned widely at him, pointing his attention to the table beside him. "I called after you as soon as you left, but you obviously didn't hear me."

"Thank you." Nick grabbed his keys, sealing another kiss to the younger man's lips. "What did I miss here?"

"Mini me had his first bath. He cried every time the nurse touched him. As soon as she walked away, he looked as though he was about to fall asleep. She just came back to put him in a diaper and he cried his eyes out again." Gently brushing his hand across the length of his baby, Greg tilted his head back, smirking, "You wouldn't know it by looking at him now. He's completely content now."

"Was she wearin' blue?" Nick smiled as he put his arm around his partner's shoulders. "That Doc was wearing a blue blouse. He cried his eyes out every time she touched him. Your Doc, Doctor Jordan had on a red shirt. He didn't even so much as make a peep as he checked him over."

"Why two doctors, you never told me that." He suddenly started to worry that Nick wasn't telling him something about their baby to protect him. "When did this happen?"

"While you were sleepin'. Relax, baby. He just wanted to see him after. There's nothin' wrong with him." He assured him. "Doctor Jordan has been with us since the beginnin'. He just wanted to see how he was doin'. You know he's got four boys of his own. Two of them are teenagers now."

"I remember him saying he had four kids." Greg opened the blanket slightly, letting his son's arms out. He pressed a kiss to the back of his little hand, smiling as he looked up at Nick above him. "You realise that we have to have another one now. We need a little girl."

"I thought that this is the part where you're supposed to say you're never havin' one again." The older man chuckled, placing his hand over his partner's. "My father was desperate for boys, that's why they ended up with five girls. He had a vasectomy after Kayla was born, but they had me accidentally."

"I wouldn't go that far to have a girl. I'm glad your folks did though, otherwise this little beauty wouldn't even exist." He motioned towards the tiny baby in his arms, giving his husband a warm smile. "If we had a boy the third time around, we'd just have to accept that our DNA isn't suited to making girls. You'd think with an XXY and XY parents, the odds of having a girl would be higher than having a boy, but it clearly doesn't make any difference. You know if you hadn't come back, I wouldn't even be holding him." He leant back against the man's arms, pressing a kiss to Nick's chin. "Thank you."

"You're thankin' me for him? You did it all."

"Not without you I couldn't have. You made this beautiful little boy." Carefully lifting his son, Greg transferred the baby into his husband's arms, asking him, "Wouldn't you like to know what it's like to have a daughter?"

"I don't know, it's my first day as a father to two son's." Nick reminded him, giving the younger man a smile as he looked up at him. "Of course I would, but I think that we should wait a little while, G. Your second son isn't even twenty four hours old yet."

"I didn't mean now." He chuckled, holding his side as he felt as though it was literally splitting open. "We can try naturally for our third baby. In four or five years. We can wait until this little one is in preschool before we try for another."

"You've been thinkin' about this since I was gone?"

"Not in detail." Greg shook his head, pouting his lip out at his husband. "I was just wondering what it would be like to have a little girl. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to watch our boys grow up, but since I had Colt, I've always been curious about what it would be like to have a girl."

"You think I'm not curious?" Nick took a look at his son, smiling as he looked at his little face. "I'm grateful to even have a child at all. When I got diagnosed, I thought that was it that my chances of ever holdin' my own flesh and blood in my arms were gone. I want whatever you want, Greg, especially if they're all as beautiful as this little man."

"Well that's inevitable, you only have to look at their Daddy." He grinned widely at him, closing as eyes as Nick sealed a kiss to his lips. "Did you see Catherine on your way back in?"

"Yeah, she hugged me twice." He gently rocked his little boy in his arms, smiling to himself as his baby boy made adorable grunting sounds. "I left a message on Sara's answer machine, I think she's sleepin' because I still couldn't get through. She always answers her phone if she's up."

"I'm worried she might be avoiding me." Greg adjusted himself on the bed, brushing his fingertip across his son's arm. "She told me that she found out she was pregnant a little while ago." As Nick looked up at him surprised, he quickly explained, "She lost it. She told me while we were waiting to hear about the c-section for this little guy."

"Maybe it's not such a good idea that she comes here then."

"She wanted to see him though."

"It's not my fault, baby." Nick responded to his partner's pouty lip. "Give her some time to get back to you. She's probably just sleepin'. You know Sara, she doesn't do the emotional grieving thing. I'm surprised she'd even want a baby."

"Maybe you don't know her that well anymore." Greg titled his head back against his pillows, staring up at the ceiling above him. "I can't wait to get out of here."

"You'll be home before you know it, G." Nick gently handed their baby back to the younger man, pressing a kiss to the boy's soft little forehead. "I should get goin'. You want me to bring anythin' back for you."

"No thank you." Greg shook his head, closing his eyes as his husband gave him another passionate kiss goodbye. "You're not leaving because I snapped at you, are you?"

"If I left every time you snapped at me, we'd never see each other." The older man joked, sealing another kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"Keys, Nicky." He jingled them in his hands, as Nick left them on the bed again. He gave him a wide grin as he grabbed them, whispering, "What would you do without me?"

"I hope I never have to find out." The Texan gave them both another kiss goodbye, before he attempted to leave the hospital for a second time. He scrolled through his phone contacts as he reached his truck, hovering his thumb over his mother's number. He wanted to tell someone from his family that he had just had the most amazing baby boy. He desperately wanted his mother to be the first person he told, but he was hesitant because of the way she might react.

Replacing his phone to his pocket, Nick started up his truck with a tear in his eye, eager to get back home. His own family might not be around for him, but his house was gull of Greg's family that were all supportive in their own way.

Tyler was first to greet him at the door, looking a little sleepy herself as she rubbed her eyes. "Where's Greg and the baby?" She curiously looked over his shoulder at his empty car.

"They're still in the hospital. Greg has to recover from his surgery, so he won't be home for a while yet." Nick closed the door behind him, ushering her further into the house so he could remove his shoes. "Are you the only one up?"

Tyler shook her head from side to side, pointing through to the kitchen. "Uncle Daniel and Auntie Jean are in the kitchen. They couldn't sleep. My Mommy and the twins are still asleep though. Colt too."

"You should be in bed too. You look worse than me and I haven't had any sleep at all." He smirked, leading her through to the kitchen with him. "Mornin'." He smiled warmly at Greg's parents.

"Morning, coffee?" Jean offered him a mug, but he politely declined. "Colt's still sleeping. Are you taking him right away?"

"I'll get him ready first." He poured himself a glass of water, taking a few sips, before he made his way up the stairs. He stopped by his bedroom to get a change of clothes for himself first, wanting to change out of the clothes he had on during his shift the day before. He ditched his jeans and shirt in the laundry hamper, quickly stepping into the bathroom to brush his teeth. There was only some slight stubble on his chin, so he decided to leave it for now, so he could start on getting Colt ready.

After a quick shower, he changed himself into a comfortable t-shirt and some sweatpants, before he crossed the hall to his son's room. Colt was curled up on his side against the edge of his bed, seconds away from falling out.

"C'mon, sleepy head. Time to wake up."

Keeping his eyes closed as his father lifted him out of bed, Colt rested against his shoulder, not even stirring as the man carried him down the stairs for breakfast. He could hear his Nana and Granddad's voices in the kitchen, but he kept his eyes closed, savouring another minute of sleep against Nick's shoulder.

"C'mon, bud." Nick sat at the table with him on his lap, gently smoothing his palm up and down his back to wake him up. "Wakey, wakey." He delicately pressed a few kisses to his forehead, rocking him in his arms as he started to wake up. "Nothin' for me, thank you, Jean." He quickly stopped his mother in law from putting an extra plate down for him. "I'll eat later."

"Alright, if you're sure." She served up the egg bake onto the separate plates, setting the smallest portion in front of Nick for her grandson. "Tyler, can you come and sit at the counter, please?" She called out to her niece, setting down a plate for the child. "We'll have to brush your hair in a minute. You've got a birds nest back here." She teased the child, trying to comb her fingers through her hair. "Once you're done with this, bring it down to me. I'll sort it out for you."

"Thank you, Auntie Jean." Tyler remembered her manners as she took her knife and fork into her hands.

"C'mon bud, you're missin' out." The Texan tried to wake his child, gently combing his fingers through his hair as he started to stir. "You've got a big day ahead of you, darlin'. You need the energy."

"Is Greg still alright?" Daniel asked, getting a reassuring nod from his son in law.

"Yeah, he's fine. His doctor came by to see him this mornin'. He checked his stitching and everythin', but he said that he should be well enough to go home within a few days. The baby's allowed to stay with him durin' that time, but he's well enough to go home today. It just wouldn't feel right if he was here and Greg wasn't."

"Best they stay in together." Jean agreed with him, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "And are you alright? You look a little tired. Would you like Daniel to drive you in?"

"No, I'll be fine, thank you." He gave them both a smile, starting to wish that his parents were here with him.

Colt eventually woke up to eat his breakfast, using Nick's arm around his waist as a rest after each mouthful. As soon as he was finished, he jumped down to play with his toys with Tyler, becoming more lively and hyperactive by the minute.

"I found some." Nick stopped his mother in law from searching for any more socks. "When I let Greg handle the sortin' last week durin' his crazy nestin' phase, I didn't realise his version of sortin' meant just emptyin' the contents of the basket into the drawer." He smirked, showing her that he finally found two socks that matched. "He has been alright since, Colt. He can actually iron and put things away, but every now and then he just gives up."

"This is nothing. You should have seen his room back when he was in Highschool. Furry cups and plates all over the floor. Dirty clothes only made it to the floor and the clean ones formed a pile on his desk, at the end of his bed or wherever he dropped them when I gave them to him." She chuckled softly, handing him the toddler sized jeans and t-shirt from her hands. "Do you mind if Daniel and I come with you to the hospital today? I know you wanted some time alone for Colt to meet his little brother, but we wanted to give the two of you some space when you come back here. You mind if we see him in the hospital again before we head back?"

"No, I don't mind." Nick gave the woman a smile as she started to get teary again. "We want you to stay as long as you like. Honestly, it reminds me a little of bein' at home with ya'll here. This house has been pretty quiet since we moved in. It's nice to be able hear voices in every room and kids laughin'." He motioned over his shoulder as he heard Tyler giggling downstairs and the twin toddlers jabbering as their mother fed them their breakfast. "I know Greg likes his own company, but I've never gotten used to bein' away from my big family."

"Not for much longer though, you're about to have two hyperactive little boy's running around here." Jean giggled at the thought of her son trying to control them.

"I really, really want you to stay. For as long as you like." He assured the woman, trying not to break down as he told her. "I can't even tell my own Mama. I should be feelin' happy and grateful that I've got kids, but I know the second I tell her... she's gonna try and turn it around to make me feel ashamed."

"You could just let her know that you've had a baby. Surely she wouldn't try..."

"Then you don't really know her." Nick stopped her there, before she even had time to say anything. "She'd rather that I was single and unhappy . . . then with Greg. I can't tell her. I want to protect Greg and my family from that kind of negativity while I'm still around. If that means I have to cut my own family out of it..." He paused to smile at the woman in front of him. "Greg's worth it. And my kids will have all they need from you guys."

"Of course they will." Taking the clothes from his hands, Jean set them on the cabinet beside them, so he had his hands free. She immediately stepped forwards, hugging her son in law tightly. "Oh sweetheart, you take so much onto your shoulders. But you're right about one thing. Daniel and I will always be here for you, no matter what you need. We're always available as a babysitter." She smiled as she pulled back from him. "But if you ever need anything else, I'm always here for you."

"Thank you." He spoke softly, lifting his son's clothes off the cabinet again.

"Well, I should go and get ready then. You need to find, Colt. I think he's down in the playroom. Just follow the howls."

Nick gave her a smile, before he made his way down the stairs. He closed the safety gate on his way, reminding himself that he still had to safety proof the drawers and things, before they brought their baby home. He knew his baby son wouldn't be crawling for a while yet, but if he didn't do it soon, he'd eventually forget about it.

"Colt."

Nick stepped off the stairs, listening out for the howling sounds as he made his way towards the playroom. The little cowboy was on the floor with his toy trucks. He was wearing a sheriff badge on his pyjamas, with a cowboy hat on his head, making the sounds of a siren as one of his fire trucks drove up to an accident of three over turned cars.

"C'mon, cowboy. Let's get you dressed." He knelt down beside him on the floor, playfully tickling him to get him to abandon his toys for a moment.

"No." Colt whined, pulling away from him. "Play, Daddy."

"We can't play right now, darlin'." Nick tugged him towards him by his pyjamas, tickling him gently until he was lying on his back on the floor in front of him. "We've gotta get ready to go up the hospital. We're gonna see Papa and your new little brother." He pointed out to him, removing the little cowboy's hat as his head touched the floor. "Don't you wonna meet your baby brother?"

Colt looked at him surprised over the news, before he gave him a nod. "Is Papa here?"

"No, Papa's still at the hospital with your new baby brother. Do you want to meet him?"

"Yes." He lifted his legs as Nick removed his pyjama bottoms, before he struggled to his feet again. "Can he play with my toys?"

"Not yet, he's too little." Nick pulled the little boy closer, holding him against his chest as he tugged his pyjama top off. Colt struggled away as soon as it was off, lifting his police car into his hands. "C'mere," His father quickly guided his arms through the sleeves of a clean t-shirt, getting him to step into his jeans, before he pulled away from him again. "He's not gonna be able to play with you like your friends at preschool for a while yet. He's still just a baby."

"How long for?" The child asked, studying the police car in his hands.

"He's much smaller than you, so not for a while." He wasn't sure how to explain it properly to him, so he rolled Colt over onto his back again, playfully tickling his little tummy. "You were as small as him not that long ago. Do you remember learnin' how to use the big boy potty?" Colt gave him a nod as he held his father's fingers on his tummy. "Well, your baby brother is completely new. He doesn't know how to do anythin' for himself at the moment. He has to learn how to do everythin', just like you did when you were born. That's how you can crawl, walk and... talk."

"He can't talk?" The completely innocent question made Nick smile, adoring every word his little boy said.

"No, he can't talk yet. He'll learn eventually, just like you did. But he has to learn how to use his arms and legs first." Gently pulling his son to his feet, Nick pressed a kiss to his forehead, asking, "You're gonna help your Papa and me with him, right? We might need your help to bring him diapers or bottles. When he's a little bit bigger, you can show him how to play with your toys."

"Where he sleep?" Colt gave the man a curious look.

"He'll sleep in the crib that you and I put together. Do you remember helpin' me with the crib?" He sat his son on his lap, so he could guide his son's feet into his socks. "You slept in a crib when you were little."

"I know." Colt slid out of the man's arms, handing him his fire truck from the floor. "Daddy play now?"

"We can play later, we have to get ready to go see, Papa. C'mon, leave those toys there." He set them down on the floor again, lifting his son into his arms, along with his pyjamas off the floor. "Let's go brush your teeth."

"Daddy, does da baby have teeth?"

"No, not yet, he'll grow them eventually. He's just a baby at the moment, he doesn't need his teeth yet to eat, because he only drinks milk."

"Only milk?" Colt gave him a curious look. "Why Papa not bring him home?"

"Papa needs a few days rest after givin' birth to your little brother. He used up all his energy to bring him into this world."

Colt shifted himself to a comfier position on the way up the stairs, positioning himself closer against his father's chest, so the man could feel his little heart pounding against his own. He couldn't wait to get back up the hospital to hold his baby boy again, finally feeling as though he was connected to the people around him, rather than drifting through his life with only his job as his main purpose.

"If he has no teeth, does dat mean he don't have to brush?" Colt queried as his father sat him on the edge of the sink counter. "Daddy, why he have to be a boy?"

"I told you that we couldn't pick what the baby was." He reminded him, putting some toothpaste on his brush for him. "You might enjoy havin' a little brother. You haven't even met him yet. C'mon, brush your teeth. We have to get goin'. Papa's waitin' for us." Nick playfully pressed a few kisses to his son's forehead, hoping he wouldn't be too jealous of the attention his new little brother would get.

He was the youngest of his family himself, so he never knew what it was like to bring a new baby into the house. Greg hadn't a clue either, as he was an only child that got his parents full attention, even now when he was in his thirties.

"Daddy, where will he go?" Colt continued his questioning, as soon as he finished brushing his teeth. His father always brushed them for a second time to make sure that they were all clean, but that didn't stop his curious little mind from wandering. "When I go preschool, where he go?"

"He's too little for preschool, so he'll be at home with Papa. He won't go to preschool until he's the same age you were when you started."

"Papa have to work?" Colt queried, sliding out of his father's arms as he lifted him down from the sink counter.

"Not for a while yet, he has to stay home to take care of the baby. You needed a lot of help after you were born." Nick led him towards the top of the stairs, finding Greg's baby cousin, Courtney only in her diaper, pulling herself up against the closed stair gate. "Chrissie!" He called out to her, lifting the baby into his arms. "Where's your Mama?" He made his way towards the spare bedroom where Chrissie was staying, finding her changing Connor on the floor. "Missin' somebody?" He stepped into the room, giving her a smile as she looked up at Courtney in his arms.

"Oh," She looked at the towel where she had left her baby, rolling her eyes at herself for taking her eyes off her for even a second. "Oh my god, how far did she get?"

"Top of the stairs. The safety gate stopped her goin' any further." He assured her, taking a seat on the edge of the bed a moment. "You must have your hands full with these two around the house." He guessed, watching Connor wriggling on the floor as his mother tried to dress him.

"And Tyler." The woman chuckled, buttoning Connor's onesie over his diaper. "Sometimes you just have to prioritise which one needs you more. If one twin is crawling out the cat flap and the other one is trying to get in the cupboard, you have to make a snap decision over which one to rescue first. My husband, Callum got one of those play pen walls that fits right across the front room. But Courtney here can open the latch herself and Connor always tumbles through it, lifting the whole thing off the ground. Of course Tyler gets into everything too. Her latest obsession is climbing trees. It's my fault for getting her a cat for her birthday. I should have gotten her a safe indoor animal."

Nick smiled at her, ushering Colt inside as he had been standing at the doorway the whole time. He hadn't taken much notice of the baby twins since they had been here, but he was always curious while Chrissie was changing them or feeding them.

"How old are they now?" Nick curiously asked her.

"Um... they'll be two in a month. Toddlers. It's hard to believe." Chrissie tickled her little boy, before she lifted him to his feet. "It seems like just yesterday I was bringing them home from the hospital. They were easier to keep track of then. When you put them down, they were still in the same spot. Now when you put them down, you have to constantly keep your eye on them. It's worse when they start walking, because they never walk in the same direction." She chuckled, handing Connor over to Nick, so she could dress her daughter. "You're lucky you only got the one this time. Obviously I don't know what it's like to have a preschooler and a baby at the same time, since Tyler was nine when they were born, but if you ever need any advice. I'm probably up at the same hours as you."

Nick gave her a smile, adjusting Connor in his arms as Chrissie started dressing his twin sister. "How was Tyler when you bought them home?" He asked her, while baby Connor fiddled with the tie of Nick's hooded sweatshirt around his neck.

"Well, she didn't like all the attention that they were getting at first. She's always been a Daddy's girl though, so he set aside a couple of days a week to take her out to the park on her own or something, while I had the twins. Now she doesn't really mind them coming along. She loves pushing them on the swings and going down the slide with them. I don't think she'll like them in a few years time though. She'll be in her teens when these are Colt's age. You're lucky there, your boys will grow up together."

"Mom, I still can't find it." Tyler returned to the spare room, crawling onto the bed behind Nick to where she had left her pictures.

"Did you check everywhere downstairs?" Chrissie asked her, receiving a grunt in response.

"What's she lost?" Nick climbed to his feet as Chrissie did with her baby in her arms.

"Her phone, but it's turned off, so we can't ring it." She explained, clearing away the twins' things into the suitcase against the wall. "Just call Daddy on my mobile. I'm sure he remembered to feed, Mugs. Anyway, he's a cat. If he's hungry, he'll go out and hunt for something to eat."

"Mugs won't kill anything." Tyler protested, going through her mother's bag to find her phone.

"Thank you, Nick." Chrissie smiled at him, taking Connor off his hands. "I guess you're off to the hospital again. Send Greg my best. I'll have to see the baby when he comes home. Jean showed me the pictures though. He's adorable. He really does look like, Greg. Congratulations." She smiled at him, unable to give him a hug at the moment as her hands were full with her twins. "C'mon then Tyler, let's get you dressed now."

"Mom, I haven't called Daddy yet." The child complained.

"I'll leave you to it." Nick smiled at her, lifting Colt into his arms as he made his way towards the door. "C'mon then, bubba, let's see if your Nana is ready yet."

"Why Tyler's Daddy not here?" Colt curiously asked him, clutching his father's side tightly as he carried him down the stairs.

"Tyler's Daddy is workin' back at their house." Nick closed the safety gate behind him, taking a seat on the bottom step with his son. He slid Colt's little feet into his sneakers, wondering if he was going to cope with having two little boys in the house. Chrissie seemed to be doing alright, but she had been doing it a lot longer than him. "Ready to go see, Papa?"

"Yeah." Colt jumped to his feet in excitement.

"Okay." Taking his son out to the car once he was ready, Nick sat him in his seat in the back, carefully buckling him in. "Where's that Nana of yours?" He checked his watch, eager to get back to the hospital. "If she's still doin' her hair." He warned her, gently tapping his son's leg. "I'll be right back. Don't move, bud." He left the car door open, quickly making his way to the front door of their house. "Jean!" He called through the house, staying in the doorway so he could still see his son.

"One second!" She called back, hurrying back to the bathroom to touch up her makeup again.

Sensing that his son in law was getting pretty anxious, Daniel stepped out of the kitchen after clearing up from breakfast, shouting, "Jean! Nick's eager to get to the hospital. Get a move on."

"I'm coming. Don't rush me, Daniel!"

Nick returned to his car, adjusting the seatbelt around his son's chest while they waited. "Do you want to hold your little brother when we get to the hospital?" He asked him, gently combing his son's tousled hair with his fingers.

"How big is he?" Colt gave him a curious look.

"About... this big." He motioned with his hands, getting a surprised look out of his child. "Not as big as Connor and Courtney. He won't be as big as you for a while yet. You'll keep growin' bigger too."

"Bigger than him?"

"Well, you are his big brother." Nick gave him a nod, realising that he himself was still smaller than his own big brother. "You can teach him how to play with your toys. When he's a little more grown up, you can teach him how to play soccer in the back yard."

"I like baska ball."

"Oh, you like basketball now?" Nick smiled as he couldn't keep up with everything that his son liked. One week all he wanted for his dinner was carrots, the next, he wouldn't even touch his previous favourite vegetable. He was the same with his toys, clothes and games he liked to play, making it hard to keep up, especially when he missed a lot while he was at work.

"Alright, I'm ready." Jean ushered her husband out of the door, so she could lock up. She gave her son in law an apologetic look as she climbed into the back of the car, excited to get to the hospital herself. "You don't mind Chrissie staying here with the kids, do you? She said that you're ever so polite, she's worried that she might upset you."

"No, it's fine." Nick assured her, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as she got herself sorted.

They hit a lot of traffic on the way in, keeping them from seeing Greg and the baby for a lot longer than they expected. Nick got more and more anxious by the minute, wondering what else he was missing. He had already missed the first time his little boy opened his eyes, as he slipped out the room last night to use the toilet, when his baby boy decided to open his eyes for the first time to Greg. He couldn't see the colour that well as the room was quite dark, but he did say that they were a mirror image of Nick's. He had missed his son's first bath too, but Greg kept reminding him that he got to see him, hold him and watch him be weighed first, so it made them even.

"There you are." Doctor Jordan, Greg's doctor greeted them in the waiting room an hour later, making them all suddenly worried that there was something wrong. "I just checked on, Greg and the baby." He assured them, seeing the worry in their eyes. "They're both doing fine. Greg's going to need to take it easy for a while, but they're doing fine. I'll pop by tomorrow to see him again, but there's nothing wrong. He should be able to go home soon. There's no sign of infection and he's not bleeding from his stitches. Just as long as he takes it easy and doesn't lift anything over the next few weeks, he'll be fine."

"Thank you." Nick shook the man's hand, relieved that nothing bad had happened while he was away. He quickly led the way to Greg's room with his son in his arms, hearing the familiar sound of their baby crying as he got closer. He stepped into the room, smiling widely at his beautiful husband. "Hey, baby."

"Hi." Greg tilted his head back against his pillow, receiving a romantic kiss from his husband. He blushed as he saw his parents stood behind the man, his own father blushing as he still wasn't used to seeing his son kissing another man. "We missed you." He motioned towards their little boy in his arms. He wasn't exactly sleeping, but his eyes were still closed as he gave out soft whimpers.

"We missed you." Nick looked at his child in his arms, smiling as he was staring in amazement at the baby in his father's arms. "Do you wonna see him?" He gently placed him on the bed beside Greg, letting him get a closer look at his baby brother. "What do you think?"

Colt shrugged as he watched the baby's movements. "What is he, Papa?"

"What do you mean, what is he?" Greg gave him a smile. "He's your little brother."

"He's got more colour today." Daniel made an observation, leaning the other side of the bed. When he saw his grandson yesterday, he still looked a little pale and blue in places, but now he looked like a beautiful healthy newborn with full colour in his cheeks. "He looks just like you did now."

"Really?" He brushed his fingertip across his little boy's puffy little cheek. "Do you want to hold him?" Greg turned his attention towards his son beside him, getting a slight nod out of the child. "Hold him just like I am. You have to support his head."

"Okay." Colt put his arms out in front of him, anxiously biting his lower lip as Greg transferred his little brother into his arms. "He sleeping?" He noticed that his brother's eyes remained closed.

"Yeah, baby's do that a lot. You slept all the time when you were this small."

"I small as him?"

"You were." Greg gently combed his fingers through his child's hair, giving his husband beside him a smile.

"Has he opened his eyes yet?" Jean queried, interrupting their moment.

"He did last night." Greg adjusted himself in his bed, getting sick of lying around all the time. "A dark chocolate brownie colour is all I saw, just like his Daddy's." He looked at Nick beside him, giving the man a wide smile. "Maggie the nurse said that some baby's don't open their eyes for a while, because they're not used to the light. He's been in the dark for the first stage of his life, so he's not really used to the light."

"You opened your eyes right away, so did Colt." His mother pointed out to him. "What if he got some kind of brain damage during his delivery? He curls his legs up to his hips a lot too. He'll never be able to crawl if his legs stay shaped like that."

"Every baby is different, Mom." Greg defended his perfect little boy, lifting him free from his son's embrace as the toddler started to get bored. Greg opened his blanket to look at his baby's beautiful little legs, giving his mother a scowl as she gave him a smug look. "It's natural for baby's to curl themselves up like that. When Colt was still tiny, he couldn't sleep with his arms and legs all loose. The midwife showed me how to swaddle him and he slept straight through the night. It makes them feel like they're safe and snuggled up inside you again."

"I do know, sweetheart. I'm a mother myself." She giggled softly, grabbing her jacket off the chair. "You wouldn't sleep through the night without being swaddled either. When you got too big for it, you still couldn't sleep without your favourite blanket. You kept it until you were eleven. I think your Nana burnt it eventually."

"You can't embarrass me in front of Nicky anymore." He warned her. "Where are you going anyway? You just got here."

"Your father suggested that we have a look at our grandson, then we get going to give the two of you some space." She explained, pressing a kiss to her son's forehead. "We won't go far." She tapped her bag against her side. "I've got my phone on me if you want us to take Colt back."

"Don't you want to hold him?"

"Later." She gave her son a smile, getting all teary at the sight of the four of them together.

"Thank you." Greg waved his folks off, turning his head to the side to look at his husband beside him. "I love you." He leant forwards as much as he could, pressing a kiss to the man's cheek. "I don't know how you manage to put up with me or my mother."

"Simple really, I love you." He leant over his son beside him, sealing a kiss to his partner's lips. "I saw your doc on his way out. What did he say to you?"

"That it's looking good." He motioned towards his abdomen. "I might still have to stay in for another two days, but there's no infection or bleeding, so he thinks it went well." He reached out for Nick's hand, clutching his hand tightly in his own. "I'm okay, baby."

"I'll believe that when you're back home with us."

Lifting Colt onto his lap, Nick moved himself closer, so his back was to the pillow beside Greg's. Colt continued to gaze at his little brother beside him, looking as though he was trying to figure out how he even managed to grow inside his Papa.

"Nicky, I've been thinking about names while you were gone." The younger man confessed, resting their heads together as he explained, "I've narrowed it down to three names that I like for him. Obviously if you don't like them, we can pick some more. But I like . . . Max . . . Dexter and . . . Jackson." He said them slowly as he looked down at his baby in his arms. "What do you think of them? Tell me the truth, he is going to have to live with it for the rest of his life."

"I'm really not too keen on Dexter." Nick admitted, brushing his thumb across the back of the baby boy's little hand. "He doesn't even look like a Dexter. It sounds more like a nickname for a nerdy little kid."

"Okay, you don't have to be that brutally honest." Greg giggled softly, titling his head back against the pillow to look into the man's eyes. "What do you think about Max and Jackson then?"

"I like Max."

"Nick, Greg, Colt and Max." The younger man tried their names out for size, giving Nick a curious look as he didn't seem to like them together. "If you don't like what I picked, you can pick some more."

"I didn't say that."

"What do you like then?"

"Jackson." Nick whispered the name, looking at his little boy as he tried to sleep. It was hard to name a little boy that he barely knew anything about, but he imagined that it was the same for everyone when they were naming their child. "Colt and Jack." He tried them out for size. "Colton and Jackson. They do sound pretty similar. Not annoyingly similar like Cole and Carl." He reminded Greg of his sister's twins. "He looks like a Jack. There's no Jack's in my family either."

"None in mine, as far as I know. Nick, Greg, Colt and Jack." The younger man said all of their names together, looking up at Nick to see if he liked the name. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

"I love it." He brushed his thumb across the back of his baby's hand. "Hi, Jack." He whispered softly, receiving an adorable grunt in response. "Has he been fed again yet?"

"Yeah, bottle." Greg pointed it out on the table in front of them. "Fed him right after his first bath. He drank it all. Colt didn't want his first bottle feed. They were worried they would have to put a tube down his throat to feed him, but he just didn't like the nipples on the bottles. He took it from one of those little syringe thingys. He drank it all though."

"That's my boy." The man proudly stated, pressing another kiss to Greg's cheek. "Our little boy, Jackson."

Their baby boy gave out a wide yawn a second later, making a soft gurgling noise as he wriggled in his blanket. His fathers remained completely silent, keeping their eyes on his every adorable movement. From the tinniest curl of his little fingers to delicate whimpers. He probably thought that he was safe and sound back inside Greg again, as he softly kicked at the blankets, just like he did when he was asleep inside his father.

Daniel and Jean returned an hour later, getting another hold of their sleeping grandson each, so Greg could fuss over his toddler that he had missed. "So, what's the big surprise?" Jean couldn't wait any longer. "Nicky said you had a surprise for us, so what is it?"

"We've picked a name." Her son proudly stated, glad that they were both here for this. "Meet your grandson . . . Jackson Stokes." He introduced them, getting smiles out of the two of them as they immediately adored the name.

"It's perfect for him." Jean gushed, rummaging through her purse for another tissue.

"We were going to call you, Jack." Daniel pointed out to his son, getting another hold of his new grandson. "We picked out the name before you were born, but when you arrived, you just didn't feel like a Jack to us, so we went with another one of our favourite names."

"It was going to be, Sebastian." His mother interjected, giving her son a wide smile. "Your father didn't like it though." She lifted baby Jack from her husband's arms, gently stroking his tiny fingers with her thumb. "Hello, Jackson Stokes. No middle name?" She glanced up at the two of them.

"Give us a break, we only just decided on his first name."

"What my middle name?" Colt gave his father a curious look as he snuggled up against his side.

Greg smiled at Nick in front of him, before he explained, "Your middle name is Nicholas. I named you after your Daddy."

"Will he named you, Papa?" Colt pointed to his baby brother, getting a confused look from his father as he tried to figure out what he was saying.

"Jack?" Greg shook his head. "He won't be named after me."

"Why not?" Jean interrupted him, giving him a confused look. "What's so wrong with your name?"

"Jackson Gregory Stokes doesn't really go. Besides, I only put Colt's middle name down as Nicholas, because I didn't know when Nicky would be back." He reminded her, reaching his arms out to take his baby back. "If I was an alcoholic, I could name him after my Dad."

Daniel immediately smiled, shaking his head at his son. "You don't have to do that. It wouldn't feel right my grandson being named after the bottle."

"Your Nana Olaf named me after the nurse that helped her to deliver me." Jean explained to her son. "Obviously you don't have to pick a nurse, but there is that handsome doctor of yours. He practically helped you to make this baby."

"Doctor Jordan? His first name is Arnold though. And Jackson Jordan sounds a bit repetitive." Greg dismissed the idea, just relieved that he had finally picked out a first name for his little boy. He could finally put a name on his birth certificate and call him Jack, rather than new baby. "I can't wait to take Jack home now."

* * *

**Thank you so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter!**

**Big thank you to HeartsColide for helping out with the name too. I was on baby name sites for ages trying to pick one that went with Colt :P I know everyone doesn't pick names that go together, my cousin just had a little girl and they called her, Bo, while her older sister is called, Millie. Love the name Jackson though, hope you guys do too. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, might have another update this weekend, depends what's happening. My uncle is going in for surgery to have a stent or something put into his leg to help the blood flow to his foot. After that they'll be able to tell whether they need to remove his foot or not. ****Thank you for asking, ElisaFanofSlashes. I hope your cousin is doing well with her diabetes too.**

**I wish you all well and hope you have a great weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

"No, c'mon. I promised Greg that I'd look after you." Prying the fourth bottle of beer from Nick's hands, Catherine set it down beside her on the table, giving the new father a wide smile. After another long shift at the lab, she offered to buy Nick a few drinks to celebrate the birth of his son. So far they were the only two that turned up, giving them very little to talk about as they hadn't been on the best of terms lately. "You know, there was a time, a long, long time ago that I thought you and I..." She playfully wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Of course I was kidding myself. You were far too young for me and you had your eyes on the new lab rat."

"Me?" Nick only registered half of what she said, giving her a surprised look. "You like me?"

"Liked you. I liked you. A long, long time ago." The woman defended herself. "Please, who wouldn't take a second look at you, especially when you first got here. I even thought that you and Sara might be a possibility after she showed up, but she didn't even take any interest in you when she first got here. Thinking back, she always had her head turned in Grissom's direction."

"Who?" The groggy man combed his fingers through his hair, giving her a confused look this time.

Catherine rolled her eyes, sighing softly, "Forget it. You know that this was supposed to be a celebration, right?" She reminded him. "You just had a baby."

"I didn't... Greg did."

"Oh, so now you're listening to me." She ordered herself another drink from the passing waitress, stopping Nick before he tried to ask for another for himself. "I can't send you back to Greg like this. What happened since I saw you at the beginning of shift? You were fine then."

"I called my folks." He propped himself up on his elbow, looking at his phone he had poised in front of him. "The second my father heard my voice, he handed the phone over to my mother and said 'it's him'. Like I was an infectious disease or somethin'."

"I'm sure he didn't..."

"He did mean it exactly like that." He stopped her there. "I swear, if I told him that I had cancer, he'd say that I deserved it. When I first told them about Greg, my Mama couldn't even look at me and he practically threw me out of the house."

"I thought you and Greg went over there one thanksgiving?" She remembered.

Nick smiled to himself, brushing the condensation off his beer bottle with his fingertips. "No, it was durin' the summer. Big anniversary dinner for my folks. It was a weekend that resulted in Colt though. Only I didn't know it at the time. Greg and I had already been datin' four years by then. My nieces and nephews pretty much fought my corner to get me a place at the dinner table. They kept askin' why I hadn't been back for so long. Instead of tellin' them that I wasn't allowed back, my Mama decided to invite us. She broke the ice by requestin' that we stay in a hotel and don't talk about our lives."

"Despite all that, you managed to find the time to make a baby?"

"Yeah, private moment by the lake." The man smiled slightly. "It would kill my Mama if she knew that he was made there. I think that would kill her more than the fact her second grandchild was made in a test tube. She doesn't believe in this whole test tube baby era. She thinks it goes against nature. More than me."

"You haven't gone against nature, Nicky. In any aspect of your life." Catherine tried to reassure him, but his mood wasn't lifting. "Jackson isn't technically a test tube baby, either. Things happened in the normal way, Greg was just inseminated to speed things up a little."

"Know it all." He smirked, taking another swig of his beer. "My Mama didn't even want to know about him. I remember when I was a kid back at the ranch, my sister, Lily went into labour with her first. My folks immediately dropped everythin' and rushed straight to the hospital to see her. They didn't stop talkin' about everythin' the baby did to everyone they met for months. She doesn't even want to know about my baby."

Catherine gently placed her hand in his, not sure what to say to comfort him.

"Am I doin' the right thing?" He looked up at her. "If I find it this hard to deal with people that have a problem with me, especially my own family. How are my kids goin' to deal with all of this? They have to grow up bein' the odd kids out. Two Dads, one of which who gave birth to them."

"It depends what you mean by 'deal with it'. Are you ashamed, Nicky?"

Nick shook his head, before dropping it back to the table in front of him. "I'm exhausted. I need a break."

"Don't avoid the question." Catherine jabbed him in the side, stopping him from zoning out on her again. "Nicky, are you ashamed of yourself? Because there's really nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, you should feel ashamed to have folks like yours."

"I'm not... ashamed." Nick whispered the bitter word, scratching his head as he looked up at her again. "I just feel like I've done somethin' wrong. When I was a kid, I knew right away if I had done somethin' wrong. My Mama was always really cold, actin' as though we didn't exist, while my father dealt with the issue. One time she didn't look at me for a whole week. I can't remember what I did. I never dared to do it again after that though."

"You didn't do anything wrong." She looked at the vulnerable man in front of her, guessing he was feeling like that child from his memories again. "She's in the wrong here. You brought a beautiful little boy into this world. There's nothing wrong with that. Colt and Jackson are going to grow up loving you, feeling proud of where they came from, because Greg doesn't take crap from anyone. You shouldn't either, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Besides that cold mother of yours."

"She's still my mother." Nick pointed out to her, gripping handfuls of his hair.

"You're in your forties, do you really need your mother at this point in your life?" She turned her wrist to look at the time, before she glanced over her shoulder to see if Sara had arrived yet. "Some celebration party." The woman sarcastically remarked, finishing another glass of wine. "Will you be alright for a second, while I run to the little girls room?"

Nick gave her a frown in response, reminding her, "I'm in my forties. I'm sure I'll manage."

Catherine gave the man a giggle, before she slipped away to the ladies.

While she was gone, Nick reached for his phone, hoping he had a missed call from his mother, but there was nothing. He scrolled through his contacts in attempt to find someone else, but none of them compared to his own mother.

"Hi, Nick." Sara set her drink on the table, grabbing herself a chair to sit beside him. "I've just been on the phone to the care home that takes care of my mother. Can you believe that they lost her? She wanted to go for a walk and they let her go on her own. She eventually wandered back on her own. They're supposed to be the best, but they've been nothing but trouble from the start. Are you okay?" She asked, noticing how quiet he was. "You look wasted already. I thought you're supposed to be celebrating?"

"I was." He set down his phone again. "I thought you said your Mom was doin' alright now?"

"Oh she is, I just get the care home ringing me every other day with some kind of problem. Gil's Mom met her a few weeks ago. Gil wasn't there obviously, he's never there anymore. They got on pretty well considering." She took a sip of her wine, spotting Catherine making her way back to the table. "Hey, you're supposed to be looking after, Nick. Not letting him drink himself into a coma."

"That'll be those shots I gave him earlier." The woman playfully ruffled her hand through his hair, dropping into his seat beside him again. "Where have you been anyway?" She looked at her former colleague in front of her. "Greg's been worried sick about you. He thinks you've been avoiding him."

"I've just been to see him, actually." Sara defended herself, getting back to the point. "You gave him shots? You're supposed to be taking care of him."

"I don't need takin' care of." Nick lifted his head, resting against his elbow on the table, feeling as though the room was spinning. "How is he?"

"Greg? He's okay." Sara smiled as she pulled out her phone. "He's not his usual chatty self, but he's doing alright. Little Jackson is adorable. I love his name too, it fits him perfectly. Greg said that you're having a disagreement on his nickname, though."

Nick gave her a slight nod. "I like Jack, but he likes Jacks. He thinks it sounds cooler."

"Anyway, he's adorable." She compared her photos of the baby boy with the woman across the table. "He looks just like, Greg."

"I thought you weren't a baby person." Catherine giggled, taking a look at the adorable little boy's picture on her phone.

"I'm not." She took a sip of her wine, turning her attention back to Nick beside her. "Have you had anything to eat? You know you shouldn't drink without eating first. What's bothering you?"

As Nick remained silent, Catherine decided to fill in the blank for the woman. "He called his mother at work and told her about the baby. She didn't want to know."

"Oh." Sara gently placed her hand on the man's shoulder, trying to think of an explanation that would defend the woman's actions, but he didn't look as though he wanted to hear an excuse right now. "Do you want me to take you to see, Greg?"

"No." He struggled to his feet. "I'm goin' home."

"No, Nicky." Catherine pried the man's car keys from his hands, collecting her jacket from the back of her chair. "I'll drive you home. C'mon, sorry Sara. See you another time." She helped him to his feet, supporting his weight out the door. "How about we head back to mine, and I get you something to eat?"

"I'm not that easy." He chuckled softly, banging his head as he climbed into her car. "It's probably best actually. Got the mother in law, father in law, Greg's aunt and his cousins round mine at the moment." He held his head in agony, while Catherine strapped him in. "Colt will be wakin' up soon too."

"Mine it is then. My mother isn't staying with us anymore, so you can sleep in the guest room."

Crawling straight into Catherine's guest bed as soon as they arrived, Nick closed his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow, ignoring his phone as it started to ring in his pocket. Catherine set down a tall glass of ice water on the bedside table for him, before she searched his jacket pockets for his phone.

"Someone called... Billy." She reported, holding it out to him, but the man continued to ignore it. "Hello?" She decided to answer it herself. "Um... no, he's not available right now. Can I take a message?" She nodded into her phone, feeling chills running down her spine from the man's raspy accent. "Okay, I'll tell him. Bye." She set his phone on the bedside table, informing him, "That was your brother, he wants you to call him back as soon as you've got some time. He's married, right?"

"Yes." He rolled over onto his back. "He's also ten years older than me."

"Doesn't bother me, personally I've always liked older men. And younger man, actually." She smiled at the man, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Present company included. If it's really bothering you that much, why don't you try calling your mother again in the morning?"

"I never even told her that I had a boy. She never gave me the chance."

"You shouldn't care about what she thinks. I've never cared about what my mother thinks of me."

"Your mother's awesome though." He struggled to sit up, resting his chin on his knee. "I wish I didn't care. I wish I could just block out everythin' that she says, but she's my Mama. I still seek her approval in everythin' I do. I don't know how to stop. I never want my kids to feel like this or ashmed, but how can I change that if I can't even do it?"

"You're thinking a little too far ahead." Catherine stopped him there. "Your baby boy is barely two days old. You've got plenty of time for all that teenage angst, disappointment and stuff. Your boys are still just baby's. Give yourself a break."

"I can't. Greg needs me." He crashed back onto the bed behind him, staring up at the ceiling above him. "I care about him more than anythin'. I'll do anythin' to protect him. If that means that I have to cut my family out of my life... then it's a risk worth takin'. It's the only way to stop myself from breakin' down like this, every time one of them says somethin' about my life."

"If that's what you feel you have to do."

"How much did I drink?" He placed his hand over his head, wishing he could just pass out.

"Well, we started on shots, then you started on beers. Here, drink this." She helped him to sit up, handing him the glass of water. "Drink it all." She warned him. "Can't have you going back to Greg in this state. He'll think I'm out to get you for sure."

"Don't tell, Greg." He warned her, after taking his first sip. "I don't want him to worry."

"I don't really want to keep any kind of secret from..."

"I'll tell him." He stopped her there. "I just don't want it comin' from someone else."

"Okay." She reluctantly agreed. "No wonder you never drink as much as the rest of us when we go out. You're a very depressing drunk. Greg gets giggly over everything. Sara babbles about random things. I think I get giggly too, really flirty too, but you, it makes you the complete opposite of how you normally are."

"Sorry." Nick set the glass down, crashing back against the pillow. "I need to sleep."

"Okay." Catherine climbed to her feet, shutting the light off on her way out the door. "Night, Nicky." She called out to him, clicking the door shut behind her. She made her way across the hall to her own room, wondering if she should have left him a bucket to throw up in. He didn't look as though he was about to throw up when she left him, but the carpet in her guest bedroom was brand new.

She hurried to the kitchen to find a bucket, quickly making her way back to the guest bedroom to set it down by the bed.

As she stepped back into the room though, the bed was empty.

"Nicky?" Leaving the bucket on the bed, she slowly made her way towards the guest bathroom, smiling in relief as the man was stood over the sink, splashing his face with cold water. "Did you throw up?" She couldn't smell the familiar stench of vomit, so she guessed that his answer was a no. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He dried his face, crawling back into the bed. It wasn't as comfortable as his own and didn't have the familiar scent of Greg in the pillows, but he managed to doze off to sleep within a few minutes. He got about four hours of sleep, before the alarm clock on his phone started to buzz. He quickly turned it off before it woke anyone else up, grabbing his car keys off the bedside table to leave.

Fortunately for him, Catherine had driven his car back to hers, so he didn't have to walk a good few blocks to get back to his car. He drove straight over to the hospital to see Greg, finding him up and walking about, while their baby boy was sleeping in the crib.

"Mornin'," Nick handed the younger man a coffee he had bought from the shop downstairs, before he sealed a kiss to his lips. "Did you get some sleep?"

"More than you from the looks of it." Greg licked his lips, immediately tasting the alcohol on his partner's breath. "Sara did say she was going to meet you for drinks." He set down the coffee cup, taking Nick's hands into his own. "Are you okay?"

Nick nodded, giving the younger man a smile to prove it. "I'm fine. Last night would have been better if you were there with me. We wouldn't have Jackson if it wasn't for you." He gently placed his hands on Greg's hips, pressing another kiss to his delicious lips. "I wouldn't have any of this if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't even be the man I am today without you."

Greg smiled back at him, allowing Nick to gently hug him. "Dito." He spoke softly against his shoulder. "I wouldn't be the man I am if it wasn't for you. I never used to like kids, now I have 2 beautiful boys thanks to you. And I love them more than anything. I wouldn't have Colt and Jack if it wasn't for you." He pulled back to look into his eyes, feeling the familiar fluttering in his stomach as he looked into the man's eyes. "You made them, I just carried them around. Speaking of, shouldn't you be getting back?" He lifted Nick's wrist, looking at the time. "Not that I don't appreciate you visiting me, but Colt's gonna be waking up soon."

"I'm goin'." Nick raised his hands like a suspect, quickly stealing a kiss from the younger man's lips. "I love you, I'll see you later." He made his way over to the little crib, gently pressing a kiss to his son's forehead. "I'll see you later too, gorgeous. Have you fed him yet?"

"Yeah, and changed his diaper." Greg struggled back onto his bed. "I swear that you've carefully planned all of your visits to miss the worst of his diapers." He giggled softly, resting his head back against his pillow.

"I will change every diaper when we get back home." Nick promised him, lifting the covers for the younger man. "I'll do all the midnight feedin's too. You need to take it easy, baby." He combed his fingers through his partner's pillow creased hair. "I can't wait to have you home again. It doesn't feel right bein' there without you. It's our home, but you're not there."

"How much did you drink?"

"Not a lot, from what I can remember." Nick tried to remember how much, but it was all a blur. "It's not affectin' me, I'm bein' serious. I miss you."

"I miss you too." Greg lifted the man's hand into his own, brushing his thumb across the man's wedding ring. "As soon as we get home, things are gonna be pretty hectic, but they'll get back to our own version of normal eventually."

"I know." Nick smiled at him, combing his fingers through the younger man's hair again. "I'm really proud of you, baby. You thought that you couldn't do it, but you did. You're really brave too. I couldn't have done what you did."

"It's easy when you have an amazing husband to fall back on." Greg adjusted the older man's jacket collar for him, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. "Don't kill yourself trying to keep everything together, Nicky. No one is expecting you to do everything. My folks are there for a reason. They can take Colt off your hands, while you get some sleep. You look like you need it."

"Okay." Nick agreed, pressing a kiss to the man's head.

"I'm serious, don't just say 'okay' then go back and try to do everything yourself. Let my Mom help out, trust me, she loves it."

"Okay, Greg."

"Promise me."

Nick gave him a wide smile, whispering, "I promise."

"Good." Greg gently pulled the man in for a tender kiss, before he hugged him tightly against his chest. "And don't worry about me, I'm fine. Jackson and I are gonna need you at full strength when we get back home, so you need to take care of yourself."

"I am and I will be there to take care of you both." He assured him. "I'll be back later. I'll bring Colt with me."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you." Nick returned his smile, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Bye, baby."

"Bye. Hey Nicky, bring me some chocolate." He sweetly requested, receiving a frown in response. "What? You said you're going shopping today anyway. You can get me some chocolate while you're there."

"I'm not gettin' you anymore chocolate." Nick pointed out the boxes of chocolate on his bedside table to him that his friends had bought him. There were baby toys on the other one, with all their cards that said 'Congratulations, it's a boy!' "You can't use the baby as an excuse anymore. You have to start eatin' healthy again now."

"When did I ever?"

"When you were datin' me," The older man reminded him, leaning closer to the bed. He pressed a kiss to his forehead, resting their foreheads together for a moment as he looked into his eyes. "I want you to live a long, long time. Our boys are gonna need you around when they're our age."

"Our age? I'll be... sixty." Greg sighed softly. "Older than my mother. I don't wonna live that long, especially if I'm not with you."

Wrapping his arms around the man's neck, Greg pulled him closer, clutching him tightly against his chest. He knew that Nick's chances of surviving as long as him were pretty slim, but he didn't want to be constantly reminded of that little fact. He thought that by having another baby, they could both focus on the positive side for the future, but it was clearly still on the older man's mind.

"You should go. Colt's probably wondering where you are." Greg released his hold on the man. "Nicky, things will be better once I'm out of here. You'll see. I'll be available twenty four seven for hugs, once I'm out of here."

Nick chuckled softly in response, taking another look at his sleeping son. "He's completely changed the way I look at life. A lot changed after I found out about Colt, but it's different when you actually see the little life comin' into the world. I thought Colt was the most amazin' creation in the world, but now I have two of them. It's a little overwhelming."

"It is for me too."

"You don't show it though. It's hard to read you." Nick stuffed his hands into his pockets, watching his son's little chest arching up and down with each breath. "It's been hard to read you since you became a father. It's like you've grown up without me."

"Nicky, look at me."

Nick turned his head, looking at the younger man beside him. "Last night, I called my mother." He confessed, realising that he really didn't need the woman's approval anymore. "She didn't even want to know about him. I drank quite a lot last night... enough to try and forget it, but now that I'm here. I realise that it's her loss. And . . . I need to grow up. Like you have. I don't need my folks around anymore. I'm a father myself now. You and my boys are the only approval I need now."

"I've always thought that you were pretty mature, anyway." Greg smiled proudly at him. "You should have come here to see me if you were feeling like that. I'm your husband for a reason."

"My husband that needs his sleep." He reminded him, pressing one last kiss to his head. "I gotta go. Get some sleep, I'll see you later, baby."

"Oh Connor, shh," Chrissie lifted the screaming baby out of the trolley seat, giving the other customers an apologetic look as she gently bounced her baby boy in her arms. His twin sister was completely quiet in her seat beside him, making the mother relieved as for once they weren't both acting up at the same time. "Please don't do this to me now, we've only just started. Tyler, where are you? I told you stay where I can see you."

"Mommy, can I have these?" Tyler climbed onto the end of the trolley, holding up a packet of Oreo's to her mother.

"No sweetheart, we've got loads at home. This is just a quick shop, before we head home to Daddy." The woman sent her away to put them back, tending to her son again. "Oh no," She felt that his diaper was heavy, realising why he was so unhappy. "Oh, Nick." She caught up to the man in the next aisle, with his perfectly behaved four year old sat in the trolley. "Would you mind watching Courtney and Tyler for a second? I've gotta go change Connor's diaper."

"Yeah, sure." Nick grabbed her trolley, pulling it closer to his own. "Where is... never mind." He smiled as he caught sight of Tyler grumpily returning to her mother.

"Daddy would let me have them." She scowled at her mother.

"That's why your Daddy's waistline is bigger than mine." The woman smirked, turning her attention back to the man in front of her. "I'm really sorry about this. I'll be back in a flash though, I swear. Stay with Nick a minute, Tyler. Mommy will be right back." She grabbed the diaper bag from the end of her shopping cart, before she hurried off to the ladies room with her screaming baby boy.

Nick pulled the shopping cart with baby Courtney inside a little closer to his own, worried about how he was going to do his weekly shop when he had both Colt and Jack to worry about. He usually shopped on his own, but Greg's Aunt Chrissie asked to go with him, before she finally returned home to her husband. He thought that she was amazing to cope with three kids as well as she did, making him wonder how his own mother even managed with seven kids for as long as she did without tearing her hair out.

But he couldn't cope with Colt on his best days, he had no idea how he would cope with two children.

While her brother was screaming in the ladies room, Courtney ran her curious little fingertips across the edge of the metal frame around her, before she stretched her arms out for the rubber handle in front of her. She garbled some adorable baby babble as she did, completely content in the shopping cart.

"Tyler, stay where I can see you." Nick stopped her from going any further than the end of the aisle.

"Can I look at the fish?" She returned to the trolley, pointing towards the wall of fish tanks down the end of the aisle.

Nick didn't want to move too far away from where Chrissie had left them, but he figured that she'd walk past the fish to get back to them. He pushed both the shopping carts towards them, stopping baby Courtney from throwing her shoe on the ground in the process. He slid it back onto her little foot once they stopped, fastening the little Velcro strap that she managed to undo herself.

"Look at that one." Tyler pointed to a long goldfish with white spots. "Do cats eat fish?" She curiously asked the man beside her.

"I suppose they do." He hadn't had a cat since he was younger than her, so he wasn't quite sure. "There's a dead one in there." He pointed to the tank with lots of little black fish in it. One was floating on its side against the top of the water, going unnoticed by the others that were happily swimming by.

"They look pregnant like Greg." Tyler giggled, pointing to another set of fish. "Do fish get pregnant?"

"No, I think they lay eggs."

"Daddy, get down." Colt interrupted his father, reaching his arms up to the man. He had been watching Tyler running around on her own outside of the trolley, making him want to do the same. "Daddy."

"Not right now, bud." Nick ushered Tyler closer, stopping her from getting knocked over by another trolley. He gave the woman an apologetic smile for the child getting in the way, but his apology was returned with an annoyed scowl. "Come and stand over here, Tyler." He motioned for her to stand behind her mother's trolley.

"I wonna look at the fish." Tyler weaved around the trolley, taking another look at the fish. "Do these fish live in the ocean?"

"Probably," Nick gave her a shrug. "It says tropical fish up there." He pointed it out to her.

"What does tropical mean?"

"Tropical. Um... well, it means that these fish come from hot places around the world. You ever been divin' in a reef or anythin'?" He asked her, getting a head shake as a reply. "Well, I think these fish all live in the reefs in hot countries." He tried his best to explain it to her. "I don't know a lot about fish." He confessed as she gave him a curious look. "Ask me any question about birds and I'm fine."

"My Daddy knows everything about big cats. He's been to India and seen lots of Leopards."

"Saw." Nick corrected her, the same way he was always correcting his own son. "Yeah, your Daddy told me. He told me he's been on Safari in Africa to see Lions too."

"Mommy said her favourite was the giraffes. I wasn't even born then."

"Daddy." Colt started to whine, fidgeting in his trolley seat. "I want get down."

Nick anxiously looked around for Chrissie, but the ladies room was quite far away from where they were currently standing. "Okay, but you have to stay right by me." He warned him, figuring it would be the best way to stop his son from having a tantrum in the middle of the store. He lifted him out of the trolley, gently placing him at his side.

Colt held the bars of the trolley, walking round the edge of it to look at the fish on the lower shelves.

"Don't tap the glass, they don't like that." Tyler knelt down beside him, pointing to a little sucker fish against the glass. "My Daddy has those in his office fish tank. He has these big black ones with bulgy eyes too." She made O shapes with each of her hands, putting them over her eyes as she mimicked the fish in front of them.

Colt giggled softly, trying to copy what she was doing. "Daddy, can we have fish?"

Nick knew that question was coming, but he hadn't prepared an easy way to turn him down. "Look, there's Chrissie." He changed the subject, pointing down the aisle as he spotted Chrissie returning, giving him an apologetic look as she returned to her trolley.

"I'm sorry I took so long, the change table in there was broken. I had to change him over the sink. But of course they're all in use."

"No it's okay." Nick assured her, relieved she was back.

"Oh you're so polite. My sister hates shopping with me because I'm always leaving her stranded with the trolley in the middle of nowhere. I don't know why my twins always have to explode when we're grocery shopping." Lifting her son back into the trolley, Chrissie gave out a heavy sigh as she finally had her hands free again. "I didn't think having twins would be that different to having just the one baby, but it really is. Absolutely everything is doubled, from the diapers, sick mop ups and trying to get them both down for a nap at the same time is a nightmare."

"And you've still got the terrible twos to go." He smirked.

"Oh, I know. Tyler never really went through her terrible twos though, so I'm hoping they'll be like her. Or even like you, you're a very well behaved, little boy." Chrissie playfully ruffled her hand through Colt's hair. "Greg's coming home tomorrow, right? If he's anything like me when I got home after these two, he's gonna dive straight into bed with some proper food. That hospital stuff they feed you is horrible."

"Yeah, he keeps askin' me to bring him a pot noodle or somethin'. I'm gonna make sure he eats some proper food when he gets back."

"Mom, can I have these?" Tyler pestered her mother with another request.

"No, Tyler. We have those at home. Go and put them back." The woman ordered, sending the child off on another tantrum. "I blame her father for this. He's always buying those snack cake things for himself. If I let him feed the children, they'd blow up like balloons." She chuckled, checking the time on her watch. "Well I'm done, just gotta grab another bag of diapers. Callum's meeting us outside, so I'll see you... whenever." She smirked, giving her nephew's husband a hug goodbye.

"Thanks for all your help." He smiled at the woman, as she had been helping him out on the baby front. His mother in law had been a big help too, but Greg's mother didn't currently have two babies to look after. Her advice was a little outdated, since she hadn't actually had a baby in thirty years.

"Tyler, say bye to Nick and Colt." Chrissie ushered her daughter closer, while she lifted Colt into her arms. "Are you gonna be a big boy and help out with new little brother?"

"Yeah." Colt kept his eyes on the fish as he answered her.

"Good, boy. I suppose we'll be seeing you at Christmas." She lowered him to the floor. "He reminds me of Greg at this age. You're gonna have your hands full when little Jackson reaches this age." She giggled softly, giving Nick another quick hug. "Bye, sweetheart. C'mon, Tyler."

"Bye." Nick waved to them all, receiving an adorable little wave from Courtney. "Bye." He smiled widely at her, turning his attention back to his own child. "C'mon bud, let's leave the fish now." He carefully pushed his own shopping cart along, minding Colt's fingers as he clung to the bars. "Do you think we should get your little brother a comin' home present?" He suggested, spotting the toys aisle up ahead. He usually tried to avoid it so Colt wouldn't get distracted, but he seemed excited about picking out something for his little brother.

Colt skipped past the big toy trucks and things, making his way straight towards the baby toys at the end. "Daddy, a capa-tillar." He grabbed a multi coloured caterpillar off the shelf, crinkling it with his little fingers.

"It's a bit too big for little Jack." Nick pointed out to him, kneeling down beside his son. "He won't be able to play with it for a long time yet."

Colt returned the caterpillar to the shelf, turning his attention to the cuddly toys. "Jack has lots of teddy bears."

"He does." Nick agreed with him, as their family and friends had all bought him a soft teddy now. "He needs a special present from his big brother."

Colt nodded in agreement, hurrying down the next aisle where more baby toys were stacked. He walked straight past the large plastic walkers, stopping as he reached the softer toys. He went straight for a soft activity mat on the shelf underneath, taking a curious look at it. He pressed the squeaky nose on the cartoon pig in the corner, looking at all the bright colours and soft shapes.

"Daddy, Jack like this?"

"He might do." Nick took a look at the box that was stuffed under the shelf, realising it came with a mobile that hung over the top. Jack might not be able to play with it properly for a while yet, but it would be the perfect present from his big brother. "Is that what you want to get him?"

"Yeah." Colt made up his mind really quickly, giving his father a hand with the box. "Daddy, we get Papa present too?"

"What do you want to get him?" Nick lifted him into his arms, holding him against his hip as he pushed the shopping cart. "Don't say chocolate, Papa is watchin' his waistline now."

"Papa likes chocolate though."

"I know he does. But he's goin' to cut back now that he's had your little brother." Nick grabbed a few more things they needed along the way, wondering what Greg would even want after having a baby. He was hard enough to buy for over birthdays or Christmas, let alone after having a baby. "He hasn't had any alcohol in a while." He spoke out loud to himself, pursing his lips together as he looked at the bottles of wine that were on special offer. He wasn't actually a big drinker of wine himself, so he had no idea what was good.

Nick sat his son in the shopping cart as they reached the end, letting him hold onto his keys for the car, while he loaded everything onto the checkout. Colt handed them back to him as they reached the car outside, remaining put in the shopping cart, while his father unloaded the grocery's into the back of his car.

"Daddy." Colt pointed to the back of a car just driving in. "Look."

Nick looked round to see what his son was pointing at, smiling as he spotted a dog in the back of the car. "I see him. He's a big dog."

"Big doggy."

Nick gave his son a smile, quickly reaching into his pocket as his cell started to ring. He felt a chill immediately running down his spin as he saw who it was, making him worry that his mother was only calling to tell him how much she disapproved of what he was doing. "C'mon bud," He chose to ignore it, carefully lifting his son out of the cart. "How about on the way home, we stop by and see Papa in the hospital?" He suggested, strapping Colt into his car seat. "Just a quick visit before we head home for dinner."

"Daddy, you have go work?" Colt remembered.

"Yeah, but you'll be sleepin' while I'm workin'. Nana and Granddad are stayin' with you tonight. No Tyler or the twins tonight though. They're goin' home to their Daddy. And tomorrow, Papa and baby Jack will be home." He reminded him, getting a wide smile out of his son. "So, shall we go see Papa at the hospital?"

"Yeah. I miss Papa." Colt spoke softly.

"Me too, bubba."

Double checking his seatbelt, Nick gave him a smile, before he closed the door. He returned the shopping cart, driving straight over to the hospital to see Greg, while it was still visiting hours. He caught Greg while he was sleeping, being as quiet as he could to take a look at their sleeping baby boy.

"Hi, Jack." He whispered softly, lifting Colt up to see his baby brother. Jackson immediately stretched his arms out like a cat, giving Nick chills as Greg always did the same thing. "Jackson Gregory Stokes." He re-said the name his mother in law had said before, thinking that it fit perfectly for their son, even if Greg didn't think so.

"Oh, Mr Stokes." Nurse Maggie smiled as she stepped into the room, handing him a bottle full of formula. "You have to let it cool down first, but he'll be waking up for his bottle soon." She placed the bottle in his hands, giving the child in his arms a wide smile as she lifted him out of Nick's embrace. "You look just like your little brother. How old are you?"

"Four." Colt held four fingers up on his left hand, making the nurse think he was even more adorable.

"Do you have a pen?" Nick suddenly asked her, giving the woman a smile as she handed him a pen from her top pocket. He removed the Baby Boy card from the front of his son's crib, filling in his son's full name.

"Jackson Gregory Stokes." Nurse Maggie read it as soon as he finished. "That's a nice strong name. My eldest son just had his first. His little boy's middle name is Gregory too."

"What's his first name?" Nick curiously asked her, handing her back her pen as he slid the card back into place.

"Oliver." She smiled at him, handing him back his son. "And what's your name, young man?"

"Colt." He shyly spoke to her, burying his head against Nick's chest.

"Colton Nicholas Stokes." His father proudly said his full name, checking on his sleeping husband over his shoulder. He knew the younger man wouldn't mind about the choice of middle name he had chosen for their youngest, as he knew that he was the most important person in the world to Nick.

"Colton Nicholas Stokes and Jackson Gregory Stokes." Nurse Maggie gave the children both wide smiles. "You do look like your Daddys. Good strong names for beautiful little boys." She smiled as she gently tapped Colt's chin. "Wait for that to cool down." She motioned towards the bottle still in Nick's hand, before she left the room.

"Here go, bud, give Papa a hug." Nick gently placed Colt on the bed beside his partner, making sure he was careful of Greg's stomach as he crawled towards him to hug him. Greg remained fast asleep, slowly moving his arm slightly to hug the child closer as he felt his warmth against his side. "Be careful with him, okay." He warned Colt, while he made his way over to the crib across the room.

Lifting out his sleeping baby boy from inside, Nick pressed a kiss to his delicate little forehead, taking a seat on the chair beside Greg's bed with him. He let his little arms out of the blanket as he started to wake up, catching his eyes opening into little slits. He could just about make out the dark iris beneath his little eyelids, before his son's eyes fell closed again.

Jackson wasn't wearing his little cotton hat that he had been wearing before, giving Nick the chance to see his son's hair now that it was dry. It really was the same colour as his own, but the way it stuck out all over the place made his hair look more like Greg's style. His hair was thicker on the top of his head rather than the sides, giving him an adorable little Mohawk style. The same style that Greg first had when he joined the lab.

"You test it on your wrist."

Nick glanced up at the bed, smiling as he realised that Greg was wide awake and looking at him. "The bottle?" He lifted it from his lap, giving Greg a smile. "Thanks. But I know, baby. I was just... watchin' him. He's beautiful."

Greg giggled softly in response, holding Colt closer against his side. "Now I finally got my wish. I knew that you were hurting about Warrick when you left me. The first time I held Colt, I felt this unexplained feeling of pure happiness as I looked at this beautiful creation in my arms. I felt that it completely blocked everything else out. I immediately wanted you to feel that. I wished that you were with me so that you could. So that everything you were feeling about Warrick and whatever you were going through would just go. I finally got my wish though. Almost four years late, but at least you got to feel it."

Nick gave him a smile in response, carefully studying his baby boy in his arms. "I feel it. Whenever I'm away from here, I'm always worryin' about how we're gonna cope with havin' another baby in the house. When I'm here . . . it all just goes away. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but I don't worry about a thing when I'm holdin' him."

"Exactly what I wanted you to feel." Greg watched as his husband climbed to his feet, making his way around the other side of the bed. "What?" He gave the man a curious look as he sat on the bed beside him.

"Nothin'," He shook his head slightly. "I just think that you're amazin'. I thought that because you were an only child, you'd be a little more selfish than most people, because it was only ever you that your parents doted on. But you're always thinkin' about me in every decision that you make, even when I'm not here. I may have grown up with a brother and sisters, but I've been thinkin' of myself since I left home."

"But you always have the most empathy for others on the job."

"I'm still pretty selfish though." Nick adjusted the baby in his arms, gently placing his hand in Greg's. "I left for me, because I needed space. I stayed away because I didn't want what was happenin' to me to affect you. I didn't even think about how it would make you feel."

"Nicky, I don't think that you're selfish." The younger man stopped him there. "I'm already married to you, remember. You can't flake out on me now that the baby is born."

"I'm not." Nick assured him, leaning forwards to press a kiss to his forehead. "I told you that I'm not goin' anywhere and I mean it. I just wanted to make you a promise that I'm gonna try and be there for you, the same way that you have always been there for me. You could have moved on with your life while I was gone, but you waited for me. You're amazin' for doin' that, and you deserve to be with somebody that's gonna treat you like a prince."

Greg looked at him surprised, sensing that he was serious. "Nick, I don't want you to change."

"But I have to. I have responsibilities now." Nick looked at the three of them in front of him, giving the younger man a smile. "You and my boys are my number one priority now. It's my job to take care of you, and I'm not gonna let you down."

"That's a lot of responsibility to put on your shoulders."

"Yeah, but I can do it." Nick smiled widely at him. "I have the most amazin' husband that believes in everythin' I do. He makes beautiful baby's too. There might be the chance of another little Stokes in the not too distant future."

Giggling softly, Greg gently pulled the man closer, sealing a kiss to his lips. "I love you so much. I can't wait to get back home with you. No more baby's for a while though. I don't want to be that far away from you again, even if this beautiful baby is the end product. We need some time for each other now."

"I hate to break it to you, G, but I hear baby's, especially newborns, take up a lot of time."

His partner smiled back at him, before he turned his gaze towards the sleeping angel in his arms. "He's totally worth it though."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**~ Holly**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

Pushing himself to a sitting position in the middle of his bed, Greg brushed the sleep from eyes, hearing the familiar sound of his baby crying. It wasn't loud enough to be in the same room as him, but he sounded as though he was nearby. Greg immediately climbed out of bed, stumbling over his discarded clothes from the night before, as he made his way over to the window.

Sure enough, his three week old baby boy was outside, lying all alone in his stroller beneath the tree.

Rolling his eyes, Greg grabbed his clothes off the floor, quickly getting dressed to rescue his son. He had been up all morning with him, but he decided to take another shower and crash for a nap, while his mother looking after his baby. He thought that spending the first few weeks with his mother would make the transition to having two babies a little easier, but it wasn't really working out that way.

So far, he had barely slept through the night with Jackson to tend to. Nick had only spent one weekend with them, since returning to work at the lab and his mother was driving him crazy with all her unhelpful suggestions on how he should be holding his baby or when he should be feeding him.

"Mom!" He angrily shouted, almost popping a stitch as he jumped off the stairs. "Mom!" He made his way through to the kitchen, finding his mother stood by the sink, with his child at her side. "Mom, Jack's outside on his own."

"I know, sweetheart. Don't speak to me like that. I'm watching him." She motioned out the window towards the fancy travel system pushchair that her grandson was sleeping in. "He's been crying on and off for the past two hours. Your father took him for a walk round the block earlier, but he's still not settling."

"Mom, why is my baby outside?" He demanded to know, not listening to anything else she had to say.

"I thought he could use some fresh air. Don't worry. We're going back out there now. Colt just wanted a drink." Jean ushered her grandson out the door, carrying his cup of juice for him. She set it down on the table outside, lifting her grandson back into his seat. "See, he's perfectly fine." She let Greg see his baby for himself.

"Mom, he's barely three weeks old. You can't leave him outside on his own. You can't leave him anywhere on his own." Greg hurried over to the stroller, lifting out his baby boy. "What if someone snatched him while you weren't looking?"

"In the back garden?" The woman rolled her eyes at him. "I was watching him. He's less than six foot from the house. I would have seen someone if they did try to take him. And we were gone less than a minute. The brakes are on. He's in the shade. The back gate is shut. He's perfectly safe. You've gotta be careful, Greg. You're beginning to sound like me with all your worries."

Ignoring his mother, Greg carefully placed Jackson back into the pushchair, before he started to walk him round the garden to get him to sleep again.

"Your Daddy better get back here soon." Jean sighed, taking a seat opposite her grandson. "I don't think I can deal with another day of your Papa's tantrums."

"Daddy be here soon?" Colt curiously asked her, carefully setting his juice cup on the table, before he reached for his paint brushes again. He had been playing football and riding round his tractor all morning, so his Nana Jean decided to set him up with some paints to calm him down before dinner.

"Well," Jean checked her watch. "Tyler and the twins will be here before him, but he should be getting ready to leave right about now."

"Why Tyler and the twins coming, Nana Jean?"

"We're having a barbeque." She reminded him, motioning towards the barbeque that her husband had been cleaning this morning. "Your Grandpa Daniel was cleaning that all this morning. You kept asking him questions, remember?" Colt shook his head, reaching across the table for another colour. "Well, you'll get to meet your Uncle Pete and Auntie Maria too. They're bringing their little girl... she must be the same age as you now. Auntie Maria was pregnant with her baby, the same time your Papa was pregnant with you. They've been living in Australia for the last year, so we'll get to hear all about that when they get here."

Glancing up from the table, Jean smiled as she watched her son fussing over his baby in the distance.

"Why Papa worried about Jack?" Colt asked her.

"It's just the way your Papa is. It wasn't too long ago that you were the one in that stroller and your Papa was worrying about everything for you. He's not as bad as he was when you were first born. At least he's actually getting some sleep this time." Climbing to her feet as she spotted movement inside the house, Jean stepped into the kitchen through the back door, giving her husband and brother in law a smile. "Hi."

"Hi, Jean." Callum set down the grocery bags from his hands, leaving his brother to unpack them. "I think Daniel's planning on feeding an army the amount of food he got. I know your Texas boy has an appetite, but I don't think even he could get through all this." He chuckled softly.

"It's not that much." Daniel assured his wife, pecking a kiss to her cheek. "Pete texted on me on the way back. They've just landed, so they should be here soon. I asked him if he wanted a lift, but Maria's sister is already waiting for them."

"I've set up the guest room, are they still staying with us?" Jean followed them out to the car, giving Tyler a wave as the child jumped out of the car. "Hi, Tyler. Hi, Chrissie."

"Hi." Chrissie called out from the other side of the car, redressing one of her twins across the back seat.

"Yeah, they're still staying with us. Maria's a little worried about imposing, but I told her you wouldn't mind." Daniel grabbed the last few bags from the trunk of his car, taking them into the house, while Jean stayed to help out Chrissie with the twins.

"That's one diaper down." Chrissie climbed out the back of the car, finally greeting her sister in law with a hug. "Oh, this weather is horrible, isn't it?" She fanned her flowery blouse away from her chest, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I hate the heat, it's a nightmare. All I feel like doing is passing out in an ice bath."

"We've got the pool going out back. Colt's been helping out to get all the leafs out." Jean lifted her niece out of her car seat, giving the toddler a smile. "Look at you, you're getting so big already. Hasn't she grown? I only just saw her a couple of weeks ago."

"I know. We're going to have to replace her whole wardrobe. She hasn't been sleeping a lot, but she's eating more. Her paediatrician just said that's it's normal growth behaviour. Tyler was tiny until she was six. These two definitely have more of their father in them than me." Chrissie held her son against her hip, while she grabbed their bag from the front seat. "My mother said I was a tiny baby. I never gained any weight during my first few months. Callum was a very chubby baby though."

"Oh, so was Daniel. You'd never know it looking at them now though."

"We went to the seaside, Auntie Jean." Tyler announced, lifting out a bucket of shells that she had collected. "Where's Greg? I wonna show him this one." She held up the unusually shaped one that her father had dug out the sand for her. "You can hear the ocean in it."

"Wow, that's a beautiful shell. Greg's out back with the baby." Jean pointed her through the house, following Chrissie in with the twin toddlers. "Did the twins enjoy their party?"

"We didn't really have a party. It was just all of us and my mother at our place. They had the mini pool that Callum bought and my Mom bought them toy golf clubs, so we had a little crazy golf game. The twins didn't quite understand it, but yeah they enjoyed it. Tyler had a little bit too much cake though. My Mom made lots of little cupcakes with them and an individual birthday cake each. I was up all night with Tyler throwing up though."

"Oh, Greg did that at one of his friends party's when he was younger than her. Daniel and I were up all night with him on what was supposed to be our wedding anniversary." She giggled softly, setting her niece, Courtney down as soon as they were out in the back garden. "At least Greg's mood is brightening up." She spotted her son sat on the grass with Tyler, looking at all the different shells she had collected from the beach.

"Is he doing alright with the baby?" The woman queried.

"He seems to be. He's still very moody."

"Callum said I was with the twins, but I can't remember any of it." Chrissie giggled softly, setting down her second twin, so he could play with the toys that his sister had found. "Hello, Colt." She pressed a kiss to his forehead, taking a seat beside him at the table. "That's a very pretty rainbow." She complimented his painting. "No, Nicky?" She noticed.

"Not yet, he should be on his way though. He should have finished work a couple of hours ago."

"Nana Jean. Daddy." Colt immediately climbed down from the table, hurrying towards the back door. He jumped into his father's arms, hugging him tightly as the man continued to talk to Callum and Daniel in the kitchen.

"I never saw Colt bein' born, but I didn't exactly look for Jackson either." The Texan continued the conversation.

"Chrissie's c-section with the twins was gruesome too." Callum agreed. "Courtney was born in her sac with all the blood and all that fluid around her. I thought I was alright after Connor was born, but when she came out like that, I immediately threw up. The worst part was when they burst that and all the membranes spilled out everywhere."

"Stop talking." A very squeamish, Daniel, stopped him there. "I wasn't there for Greg's. Jean's mother called me at the airport after I landed from a business trip. It took me half an hour to get there. As soon as I did, he was already out. If I had been a minute sooner, I would have seen the actual birth."

"Thirty minutes?" Callum looked at him surprised. "Chrissie was in labour with Tyler for forty four hours."

"Jean was in labour for days, they had been updating me over the phone, while I was in Atlanta. He wasn't due for another two weeks, but he decided that he'd come when I was out of town for the first time during his mother's pregnancy. I caught an early flight back, but I still missed it." Daniel took a swig of his beer, before he continued, "I was there in time to cut his cord and hold him first though. Jean's mother gave me a right earful. She still didn't like me at that point."

Callum laughed in agreement. "Chrissie's Mom still doesn't like me. We had her over for the twins birthday. She didn't talk to me once."

"I'm lucky Maria's folks are dead." The youngest man in the room spoke without even thinking. "I met em a few times when we were younger. They never liked me then, so I was pretty lucky that they never even knew about our marriage."

"Oh Nick, this is my youngest brother, Pete." Daniel introduced him, realising they hadn't met. "He's just got back from Australia."

"Yeah, my wife Maria grew up there. She's been here since she was fourteen, so it was nice to head back and see where she grew up." Pete sized up his nephew's husband for the first time, surprised that Greg would go for a guy like him. "We're actually thinking of moving there permanently once we manage to sell our house over here. We bought it right after college, but we haven't lived there since the baby was born. We stayed with Maria's sister, Annie, so we had help nearby. Australia has all of Maria's aunts, uncles and cousins though. Much better place to grow up too."

"Hi." Nick shook the man's hand. "I love it out there. I went with my folks when I was a kid. They were talkin' about livin' out there, but all our family was in Texas."

"Yeah, I love it out there too. It's so quiet and miles away from crowds of people like here. You probably don't get many crowds in Texas on your ranch though. What made you ever want to move to the big city of Las Vegas?"

"Because not everyone's a loner like you." Callum gave his younger brother a playful punch. "You know, Nick's the youngest in a big family too."

"Really?" Pete turned his attention back to the man. "How many?"

"Seven. Five sisters and one brother."

"Beat yah on that one. I got six brothers and one sister." Pete boasted. "It's not really that surprising that a guy from Texas has a big family, actually. I lived in Austin for about a year and a half. Everyone I worked with had a big family back home. They have quite big family's in Australia too. There's a few with just one or two kids, but then there's even more with six or seven of them. The people out there are great though. Great place for Miley to grow up. Much nicer place to work than here too." The man smirked, grabbing himself a beer as Callum handed them round.

"What do you do?" Nick queried, letting Colt down as he started to fidget in his arms.

"I'm a Zoo Veterinarian. I liked working with cats, dogs and small animals out here in California for years, but I wanted more of a challenge. While Greg was broadening his horizons to a field CSI, I started retraining as a zoo veterinarian. Australia has the most amazing collection of animals I've ever worked with." He quickly stepped around the counter as he spotted his wife entering the house, with their daughter in her arms. "Here she is." He proudly lifted the little girl from the woman's arms, pecking a kiss to her little cheek. "This is my amazing daughter, Miley."

Nick immediately noticed the child's legs had braces on them, making him immediately wonder what was wrong with her. She didn't even look that much older than his own son, Colt.

"Hi, Miley." Daniel greeted his niece first, making the adorable little girl shy away into her father's embrace. She had gorgeous light freckles across the tip of her nose and light speckles across her little cheeks, with light strawberry blonde hair tied into pigtails either side of her head. "You were still just a baby the last time I saw you."

"Hello." Jean quickly rushed into the house to greet all of them. She greeted her son in law, Nick with a hug first, before she moved on to greet her brother and sister in law. "Oh, is this young miss, Miley? We haven't seen you since you were a baby."

"Speaking of, where is Greg's baby?" Pete asked, handing his daughter back to his wife.

"Oh thanks, Pete." The woman sarcastically remarked, dropping her bags in the doorway, so she could support her daughter's weight against her side. "Hi, Jean." She hugged her sister in law, before she moved onto her brother in laws. "Hi, Daniel. Callum. You're looking very smart. Is Chrissie still dressing you?"

"Yeah." He patted his belly. "She's got me on a strict diet too. I've lost eight pounds already."

"It shows. I 'spose you don't want her knowing you're drinking a beer then?" Maria giggled, turning her attention back to Jean. "So, where's the new little grand Sanders then?"

"This way." Jean ushered her in laws towards the back door. "Greg!"

"Hi, I'm Maria." The red headed woman approached, Nick, giving him a smile as his son was running around his legs. "Is this Colt?"

"Yeah." Nick bent down, lifting him into his arms again. "I'm Nick, Greg's..."

"I know, I've seen photos. They really don't do you justice though." She grinned widely at him. "Hi, Colt. You probably don't remember me, but your Papa Greg and I were pregnant at the same time. You and Miley slept in a crib together when you were babies." Maria smiled at the child, before she introduced them to her daughter. "This is Miley. She has mild cerebral palsy." She noticed Nick looking at her child's braces again. "She's just started walking for herself a couple of months ago actually. She uses a walker and her leg braces, but she's doing really well with her physical therapy."

Nick couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he decided to just compliment the four year old on her amazing achievement. She shied away into her mother's embrace, sucking her thumb for comfort, while Colt was wriggling, squirming and talking to himself as he picked the dried paint off his fingertips.

"I bet you were excited to get a new baby brother, huh?" Maria playfully tickled the little boy. "Let's go see the new baby, yeah?" She spoke to her own daughter, ushering Nick out the door first. "Did Greg tell you that we were in Highschool together?"

"No." He looked at her surprised, letting Colt down as soon as they were outside.

Maria giggled softly. "He probably didn't want me to tell you a few little secrets that he might have had. I always thought that he and Pete were brothers. There's only a year between them, but they were so alike back then."

"I have no idea about what he was like back then." Nick admitted the truth to her, finding it hard to believe that he was anything like his Uncle Pete. The man seemed a little too competitive with his brothers and not quite as caring towards his wife as Greg was towards him.

"Hi, Chrissie." Maria cheerfully greeted her sister in law, excited to see the twins again. "Aww, look at their outfits."

Right before she left for Australia with her husband, the twins were only a couple of months old. Now they were cheeky little toddlers. She set down her own daughter to play with them, letting Chrissie see her walking for the first time. She stood wobbly on her feet for a moment, before she took her first hesitant step forwards. She fell forwards onto her hands a few seconds later, pushing herself right up again. Even with her leg braces on, she was still very wobbly and unstable, looking as though she was about to fall over any second, but she didn't let that stop her.

Remaining on the patio, Nick stuffed his hands into his pockets, watching Greg showing off his baby boy to his family around him. He wanted to stay put so the younger man didn't feel too crowded, but as soon as Jean noticed him stood all alone, she ushered him over to join them.

"Have you seen his hair lately?" Jean asked him, carefully removing the hat from her grandson's little head. "It's getting lighter. He's almost the same colour as Greg now." She gently brushed his messy hair flat, leaving his hat off so the others could see.

"He's beautiful." Callum complimented his nephew. "He's got chubby little cheeks, hasn't he? Courtney was like that, while Connor was just chubby everywhere else."

"Your twins are beautiful." Jean playfully slapped his shoulder. "We're going to have to do a big family photo this weekend."

"Any opportunity to paparazzi the family." Her son smirked, carefully lowering his baby into the stroller again. "He's never usually this quiet. He's a very vocal baby. Colt was nothing like this, but he's a very vocal toddler."

"Miley's always been really quiet." Pete took another opportunity to boast. "She's always been such a good baby. She slept straight through the night, every night. They love her at day care and preschool. She's never had any trouble with babysitters. They all love her."

"C'mon, we better get this barbeque started." Jean ushered them away, pecking a kiss to her son's cheek, before she left herself.

"Hi, baby." Nick finally stepped forwards, greeting his husband with a kiss. "I missed you." He gently wrapped his arms around his waist, sealing a second delicate kiss to his neck. "How's my baby boy?"

"He's been fine. He's been opening his eyes a lot more lately. And he's started sucking his thumb during the night. My Mom thinks it's because he's missing you." He tilted his head back against his partner's shoulder, pecking a kiss to his jaw line. "I missed you too. You don't have to go back again, do you?"

"No, it was just a one off for a high priority case. The daughter of a casino owner was kidnapped." He knew that he could tell him that much without breeching lab protocol. "I am all yours now. I'm officially off now. For the next... two or three weeks anyway." He pressed a kiss to his partner's hairline, glad to be back with him again. "Is that your goddaughter that you were tellin' me about?" He motioned over his shoulder, towards Miley with her mother. "You never said..."

"That she has a disability?" Greg cut him off, gently tucking a blanket around his baby boy. "Because it's no big deal. They didn't find out that she even had cerebral palsy, until she was nearly a year old. She had to have all sorts of tests and stuff, but it doesn't make her any different."

"I never even said..." Nick rushed to defend himself. "It's just that you told me practically everythin' about your goddaughter, except the fact that she has cerebral palsy. It's a pretty major thing to miss out."

"Not really, it's mild cerebral palsy." The younger man repeated himself. "Not everyone has to be perfectly normal, Tex. Can you watch, Jackson for a little while? I'm gonna go say, hello." He pressed a kiss to the older man's forehead, before he hurried away to greet his favourite Aunt that was more like a sister to him.

"Daddy." Colt ran through the garden as fast as his little legs could carry him, jumping into his father's arms as he knelt down to his level.

"Easy, darlin'." Nick rubbed his hip, where his son's foot had kicked him. "You just saw me inside. You can't have missed me that much."

"Granddad said we can go swimming!" The child excitedly announced. "Not Papa though. He still have sore tummy."

"That's right." He gently combed his fingers through his son's hair. "You should go ask, Tyler if she wants to go in too. I'll go find your trunks upstairs." Nick let his son down, while he turned towards his baby boy behind him. Jackson was just starting to drift off to sleep, so instead of lifting him out to carry him inside with him, he carefully wheeled the pushchair across the lawn, leaving him with his Nana Jean for a moment.

"Where you going?" Greg caught him in the kitchen.

"Colt's trunks. He wants to go swimmin'."

"In the top drawer in my room." The younger man motioned towards the stairs. "Where's your stuff?" He hadn't seen it anywhere, so he was hoping that it wasn't a sign that he wasn't staying.

"My duffels in my truck. I was helpin' your uncle Callum with the cases from his car, so I forgot it." He pecked a quick kiss to the younger man's forehead, before he made his way upstairs to find his son's swim suit. He stopped at the top of the stairs as he heard hushed voices, recognising them as Greg's parents. He knew that he shouldn't be listening, but he couldn't stop himself as he heard the word 'adoption' in their conversation. He took a step closer as he heard his partner's name, making him even more curious. He heard Daniel say 'we have to tell him', before the door suddenly opened.

Nick quickly made a beeline into Greg's room, hiding from his in laws as they made their way downstairs again. He sat on the younger man's bed as soon as the coast was clear, wondering how it could even be true.

Greg couldn't be adopted.

There was no way.

Retrieving his son's swim suit from the chest of drawers, Nick slowly made his way back down the stairs, taking a moment to look at all the family pictures of Greg. It still didn't seem possible. He looked like just like each of his parents. He had a part of each of their personalities in him. And he got along so well with them.

He made his way through to the kitchen, finding Greg sat alone with a bottle of water in his hands. He didn't want to tell him himself, but he didn't think he could keep this from him for very long.

"Get up and follow me." His mother stepped into the room, ushering her son outside. "You too, Nicky."

The blood from Nick's face immediately drained as he realised that the younger man's parents had gathered everyone outside to announce that he was adopted. He grabbed Greg's wrist to stop him from walking out there, getting a confused look in return.

"What? Are you okay?" Greg took a step closer to him. "C'mon, Nicky. My Mom's waiting for us."

Nick tried to tell him, but he couldn't form the words in his mouth. He stepped forwards to hug him, letting him know that he was there for him, before they went outside. His partner gave him an even more confused look, but he didn't have time to ask him what was wrong, as his mother was calling for his attention.

"Greg! C'mon, this concerns you." She ushered him over to the family table on the patio, where she had gathered everyone else. Greg took a seat on the last remaining chair, keeping hold of Nick's hand as the man perched on the arm of the chair. "Okay, I know that this was primarily for Nick and Greg's new baby boy, but... Daniel and I have a little announcement of our own."

Greg felt the Texan gripping his hand a little tighter, but he still didn't know what was wrong with him.

"We've been on the adoption register for the last three years, hoping to adopt a sibling set of children." The woman spoke softly, looking at her son in particular to see how he took the news. "We didn't tell anyone in case it didn't work out, but we just had our last visit with the social worker and the children we're adopting. They'll be living with us for about six months or so before it's official, but as of next week, we'll have two daughters and another son."

Nick gave out a subtle sigh of relief, thankful that he had overheard that wrong.

"How old are they?" Her sister in law, Chrissie immediately asked, while she hugged her own ten year old tightly in her arms.

"They are twelve, nine and seven." Jean remembered off the top of her head.

"We have some photos." Daniel reached into the pocket of his jeans, shakily pulling them out. The last thing he wanted to do was make his son feel as though he wasn't wanted, but he was trying to be as excited as his wife about their new opportunity. He handed the photos over to Chrissie first, letting her see the three children that would soon be living with them.

Greg climbed to his feet to look over her shoulder, feeling slightly relieved that they were older than his own children, but not by much. "You've just become grandparents, again. How are you going to find the time to parent three kids?" He took no time in voicing his concerns, making his father even more nervous.

"Well, you and Nicky are heading back to Vegas in a few days. And you've known that we've wanted to adopt since you were still a child, Greg. We'll always be there when you need us, just like we always have." His mother assured him, pointing to one of the pictures of all three of the children.

"Is that the park near here?" Greg recognised it in the background of another photo.

"Yeah, we took them there the first time we met them." Jean smiled at her son, glad he was taking an interest, rather than throwing a jealous tantrum. "This was the first time we met them, actually. The social worker arranged for us to meet them here. This one is from a couple of months later, when we took them back there." She reached for another photo, in which the children were more smiley and trusting of the people around them. "We showed them a picture of you and told them all about you. Aza asked if we were going to show you some pictures of them, so we took these ones."

"She's a cutie." Maria pointed to the smallest child. "Look at those adorable big brown eyes. What's her name?"

"The youngest, that's Aza." Daniel joined them at the table. "She's seven. That's her older sister, Zane. She's just turned nine. And their older brother, Micah. He's twelve." He pointed to each of them, putting his arm around his son's shoulders as he saw the slightest sign of jealousy in his eyes.

"Micah looks like you." Greg's, Uncle Callum grinned at him. "Especially the hair." The twelve year old had mousy brown hair, with a small bleached blonde Mohawk running down the middle of his head. "How old did you say he was?"

"Twelve." Jean giggled softly in agreement. "He is very fussy about his hair. We took them swimming one day and he refused to go under the water from the neck down."

"Aza?" Chrissie double checked the name. "That's beautiful, and Zane, so unique. Do you know their background? Were you allowed to know that?"

"Their social worker didn't want to tell us too much, but Zane pretty much filled us in. They weren't abused or anything horrible like that. Their parents and their older sister died in a car accident. Zane was in the back seat with her older sister, but she was the only one that survived." Jean explained to them, ushering her son in law, Nick a little closer, so he could see their pictures too. "Aza was still just a baby when it happened. She's never known a mother or a father. They've been in care for six years. We wanted to wait a little longer for Greg to get settled with the baby first, but these kids have waited long enough for some stability."

Chrissie reached for one of the pictures of the girl's, showing it to her daughter in her lap. "Zane looks a lot smaller than you." Tyler smiled as she tilted her head back against her mother. "How did you manage to keep this one quiet, Jean?" She found it hard to believe that the woman could hide something for three years.

"Well, no offense, Nicky," She looked at him as she said it. "With everything that Greg was going through without you, we didn't think that it was the right time. It's always been our dream to have four kids, but the one we had at the time was more important than our dream. You'll always be important to us, Greg."

Her son rolled his eyes at his mother, giving her a smile as she put her arm around his shoulders too. "I'm not a kid anymore. I don't need to be the most important thing to you."

"I know, we're just worried that you're going to feel neglected. You've always been our centre of attention. It might throw you a bit when you see your Dad with Micah or the girls." She explained to him, giving her son a hug as he didn't say anything. "This won't change anything, you know. You'll always be our number one."

"Mom, please." Greg pulled away from her, returning to his seat away from the table. "I don't need you to tread on egg shells around me. I'm glad for you guys. This is what you always wanted, and it kinda takes the pressure off me. I have my own family now, and I kinda need you guys to back off a little, so I can raise my kids like you raised me."

"Your grandparents were completely involved from the beginning." His mother defended herself.

"I want you to be involved." He assured her, looking at his baby boy sleeping beside him. "I wouldn't want them to grow up without you, just like I wouldn't want them to grow up without, Nicky." Greg looked at his husband in front of them, smiling as he was happily talking to his family as if he had known them for years. "I want you to do this. I want you and Dad to be happy. But you have to promise that you'll still be there for Colt and Jack... and Nick too. They don't have any other grandparents that will love them unconditionally like you do. Nicky doesn't have anybody else, either."

"And that is a promise that I can easily keep. Colt's my first grandchild. I saw him being born. I would never break that bond, just like your Nana and you. She was there when you were born. She even wanted to pack herself into one of your cases when you were moving away to college."

Greg giggled softly at the memory, giving his mother a wide smile. "I wish she coulda seen, Colt. She always said that I was too spoiled to ever become a parent."

"She said that to me too. We proved her wrong, huh?" She pulled a tissue from her back pocket, handing it over to him as she saw a tear in his eye. "You know she'd have wanted to see him too. I bet she'd have liked, Nick. She always had an inkling that you'd find love in Las Vegas."

"I thought she only said that to put your mind at ease after I accepted the job offer there."

"No, she never tried to put my mind at ease. She was always saying 'just let him go, stop hovering'." The woman mimicked her mother's voice, giving her son a hug as soon as his tears had stopped. "Nick's a very good influence on you, yah know. You never used to be quite so emotional."

"And that's a good thing?" He smirked, wiping his eyes with the backs of his hands. "That's part of the reason why I fell for Nick in the first place. He's nothing like other guys. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he's not afraid to show his emotions. He brings it out in me too." After giving his eyes another wipe, he asked, "Have you told your new kids all about me?"

"Yep, it was one of the first things I told them. I've already told them about Colt too. Now that Jack's born, I can tell them about him. Aza was very excited about having a little nephew." His mother took a seat beside him, assuring him, "We'll always be here for you. Nothing is really going to change, you're just going to get a little brother and sisters."

"I'm happy for you." He said it again. "When do we get to meet them?"

"Whenever you like, really. You can come back once you've got little Jackson settled into a routine. I let them know about you and Nick, already. Zane and Micah asked a few questions, but they weren't really that bothered. They asked more questions about your jobs. Zane's got her heart set on Stanford already. I don't think she could stomach what you go through though. Aza didn't even ask any questions. She was just excited to get two big brothers."

"Of course they would, they're kids. Nick's nieces and nephews still love him, it's just his folks and that who won't accept that he's still the same, Nick. She was okay for a bit after she realised that Nick left me with his child, but she just doesn't want to know anymore." Greg turned his head as he saw movement beside him, spotting Jackson stretching his arms out as he started to stir. "Where'd you leave the change mat last?" He figured he'd change him now that he was more awake.

"Your father left it in the study. Should be still on the floor. You need a hand?"

"Nope. It doesn't hurt so much anymore." Lifting his baby boy from the pushchair, Greg held him against his chest with one hand, while he grabbed the diaper bag that was hanging over the handles. He gave Nick a wave as he took him inside, heading straight towards his father's study.

"Auntie Jean." Tyler called out to her, taking a look at the photos herself. "What grade is Zane in?"

"She's in the third grade, sweetie." Her Auntie answered her, rejoining them at the table. "There's the most recent one of her. She's quite tiny even though she's nine, but she's very smart for her age." She passed it across the table to her son in law, letting him take a look. "Aza's quite small too, but she's about the same height as the kids she goes to school with. Their brother, Micah is very tall for his age. Much taller than Greg at that age."

"Daddy." Colt pulled on his father's arm, bored of looking at pictures now. "I want to swim."

"You can go." The woman gave her son in law a smile. "Tyler, you wonna go swimming with them?"

"Yeah." The child immediately sprang to her feet, pulling her mother up with her. She led the woman into the house by her hand, eager to get her swim suit out of the car, so she could join them.

"Miley?" Jean joined the little girl and the toddlers by the toys, gently brushing the child's hair out of her face as she looked up at her. "Would you like to go swimming with Tyler and Colt?"

The little girl nodded, pushing herself to her feet, like a baby that had just started walking would. Her mother immediately picked her up, taking her into the house to get her changed. Before they could go in the pool, Jean rounded everybody up, setting her camera up on a timer.

"Okay, everybody squeeze in." She checked the angle, before she ran round her family members, taking her place in the middle, between her son and husband. She instructed her son to hold her grandson a little higher, telling Callum to stand up straight, before she announced, "Big smiles."

While the camera in front of them was clicking away, Nick looked around at the new family he was surrounded with, feeling as though he was part of it. Even though he had only just met a few of them, they had already welcomed him into their loving family, making him feel as though he belonged.

* * *

**Thanks for being so patient with this, really am sorry for the long wait, but could not be helped.**

**Hope you enjoyed it, just the one more chapter to go for this one, but I've already written the first three chapters of the sequel :D Along with a few separate stories that I might upload too. Please let me know what you thought and I hope you have a wonderful summer, whatever you're doing.**

**~ Holly**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

"Daddy . . . Daddy . . . Daddy." Colt climbed off his tricycle, making his way over to his father across the garden. "Daddy . . . Daddy. I have to wear this?" The four year old reached under his chin for the fastening of his helmet, acting as though the bright green helmet was choking him. "Daddy . . . Daddy. I take it off?"

"You can't take it off." Nick abandoned the lawn mower he was trying to fix for a moment, checking that the helmet really wasn't choking him first. "It's protectin' your head, bud. You can't take it off." He originally came outside on his day off to cut the grass that had grown too long over the past few weeks that had bled into months, but the lawn mower wasn't cooperating. The second he stepped outside though, Colt wanted to join him, making it harder for him to concentrate on what he was doing.

Reluctantly leaving the helmet on, Colt stumbled down the pathway towards his new red tricycle, tripping on the last slab of the pathway. He bounced on his elbows off the ground, feeling his father lifting him off the ground a second later.

"Ya'ight?" He brushed the dirt from his son's knees, before he hugged him tightly as he looked as though he was about to cry. "You're alright." He double checked his elbows and knees, pecking a kiss to his little cheek. "Good thing you were wearin' your helmet, huh?"

"Yeah." His son rubbed the tears from his eyes. "It hurt."

"It would have hurt more if you weren't wearin' this." Nick giggled softly, gently smoothing his hand up and down his son's back. "You're alright." He pressed another kiss to his cheek, setting him down on his feet again. He kept an eye on him for a moment to make sure he was alright, before he returned to the lawn mower.

"Daddy . . . Daddy, where you going?" Colt caught sight of his father making his way back into the house.

"Stay right there. I'll be back in a second." Nick stepped into the kitchen, checking on Jackson in the Moses basket as he made his way to the cupboard to look for some tools. He thought it would be easier to just buy a new one, but he couldn't leave the boys while Greg was sleeping.

Thankfully, his baby boy was still fast asleep, wheezing softly in the process. He rarely ever slept during the day when they first brought him home, but at nearly three months old, he was starting to sleep more and more.

"Daddy." Colt followed him through the house.

"Shh, shh," Nick ushered Colt back into the garden, before he woke his younger brother up. "We can't wake up your little brother, yet. He needs his sleep. What's up?" He closed the door behind him, taking his son back to his tricycle. He lifted him onto the seat, putting his feet through the little straps on the pedals. "You've been buggin' me to fix this together to ride it all week."

"I don't want wear the helmet." Colt tugged at the clip beneath his chin again, giving his father a grumpy look. "It's too tight."

"It's not that tight." Nick could fit his fingers underneath the strap, proving that it wasn't too tight. "Your Papa would have my head if he knew you weren't wearin' a helmet on your bike. If you wonna take it off, then you can't play on your bike."

Colt thought about it a moment, before he climbed off the bike into his father's arms.

Nick unfastened the helmet from his head, setting it on the handles of his bike. He playfully ruffled his hand through his son's tousled hair, giving him a smile as he gave out an adorable giggle. "What are you gonna play with instead then?"

His son pointed to his plastic slide at the end of the garden, immediately pulling away from his father. He grabbed his toy trucks from the table beside the back door, using his slide as a ramp for the trucks.

While his son was preoccupied, Nick managed to loosen the rusted blades on the lawn mower, before Jackson started to cry out for his attention. He left Colt playing on his slide, quickly tending to his baby boy, before he woke up Greg from his afternoon nap.

"Ooh, baby," He held the tiny baby boy against his chest, realising that his diaper was full. "I wouldn't be able to sleep with that either." He placed him back in the Moses basket, slowly unbuttoning his little onesie, so he could change it for him. Jackson had gained a little weight since his birth, giving him more of a chubby little cherub look, rather than the tiny little boy that he was just a few short weeks ago.

"Hey." His partner stepped off the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Mornin', sleepy head." He smiled as Greg stumbled into the room. He leant back to kiss him, giving him a smile as he immediately yawned. "Still tired, baby?"

"I feel like I'm hung over." Greg poured himself a glass of water, before he took a seat at the counter. "I forgot about all the lack of sleep." He held his head in his hands, watching Nick expertly changing their baby boy's diaper. "I never heard you come in. What time did you get home after your shift?"

"About nine this mornin'. You were all sleepin'." He binned the dirty diaper, getting a clean one out of the diaper bag on the counter. "Did you get much sleep last night?"

"What do you think?" Greg pointed out the fact that it was almost three in the afternoon to him. "Jackson didn't sleep at all last night. I put him down, he cried. I tried to feed him, he cried. I changed him, rocked him, attempted to sing to him like you do... but nothing worked. He was up at eight, ten, twelve, one, two, five and seven." He remembered each time that he was disturbed from his own sleep. "I feel exhausted."

"You check his temperature?"

"Yeah, I did all of that. Even called his paediatrician. He came over to check him on his way home, but he said there was nothing wrong with him." The younger man assured him. "He said that he might just be colicky. I got him to sleep for a couple of hours, eventually. It just took too long."

"How'd you get him to sleep?"

"I put on a laundry load." Greg smiled at him. "The noise works better than the vacuum. My Mom recommended it to me. She said I was a colicky baby during the first three months. The washing machine worked with me every time."

"Good tip for next time." As soon as Nick finished with his son's diaper change, he pressed a kiss to his husband's cheek as he stepped around him to wash his hands. "Did you see that little fur ball thing they just got next door?"

"The Pomeranian?" He giggled, pulling himself up onto the counter beside him. "She said she was gonna get her kids a pet. I never thought she'd get a dog. It's a yappy little thing though. I heard it out in the garden with them yesterday."

"I hope you're not hopin' for somethin' like that." He knew that Greg wanted a dog, but he didn't class a small toy dog as a pet that he would want around the house. He dried his hands, placing them either side the younger man on the counter as he leant forwards to kiss him. "A Pomeranian is one of those little girly purse dogs. I need a man's dog."

The younger man giggled softly, reaching his hand up to comb his fingers through his husband's hair. "Is this about my new little sister thinking that you looked more gay then me?"

"No." He shook his head slightly. "But she was right about one thing. You are stronger than me. I still don't know how you managed it with Colt as long as you did. They're a lot of work. You seem to be able to stay calm and level headed, even though they're screamin' the house down. You'll have to teach me how to do that."

"Nothing to it." Greg held him closer, looking into his big brown eyes. "When it was just me and Colt, I had to stay calm and level headed. I was all he had. He needed me to stay strong for him. You can't think about how you're feeling when your kids need you. They can sense what you're feeling, so you have to stay calm or they only get more agitated."

"Parentin' 101 with world renowned expert, Greg Sanders." His partner chuckled softly, sealing a kiss to the younger man's lips. "Did you change your dressin'? I don't want you gettin' another infection."

"No, I can't bring myself to pull it off." He slid off the counter, giving Nick a wide smile. "I need you to do it."

"What would you do without me?"

"Hey, you caused it, mister." The younger man defended himself. "It's only right that you have to take care of me afterwards."

"I'm not complainin'." Nick pressed a kiss to his neck, gently wrapping his arms around the younger man. "I will gladly take care of you, for the rest of my life. Do you wonna go get the kit and I'll change it for you?"

"Okay. Where's Colt?"

Nick pointed out the window, smiling as his son was still talking to himself, while he let the trucks fall down the slide. "He's been really hyper this mornin'. I'm surprised he didn't wake you up earlier. I was gonna cut that grass out there. The mowers busted and he's runnin' around out there now. I'm gonna have to get your Dad to look at it next time he's here. The blades are completely rusted over too, it'll probably be easier to just get a new one."

"You'd think that growing up on a ranch, you'd be more of a DIY expert." The younger man teased him. "I know you did chores, but they don't appear to have done you any good in the long run. You're not really the handy man type."

"Thanks a lot." He chuckled softly, lifting Jackson back into his arms. "I never said I was any good at DIY or anythin'. When I was around Colt's age, I helped my Mama in the kitchen. Pairin' socks together, puttin' dishes away, that sorta stuff. When I got older, I helped my Dad muck out the horses stables, walked the dogs and helped out with gardenin' stuff. I've never fixed a mower in my life though." He defended himself. "I bet your mother was too scared to make you lift a finger."

"Privileged I was not." Greg objected. "I took out the trash until I left home. Helped my Mom cook every night, since she first let me hold a knife for the first time. Before that I was just a taste tester and a sauce mixer. When I got older though, I mowed the lawn every other weekend. I did a couple of neighbours lawns too. I helped my Dad fix up his boat..."

"Okay, you proved your point." His husband stopped him there. "What are we gonna get the boys to do? Obviously we'll have to wait for Jackson to get a little older, but Colt's old enough to start learnin' a few responsibilities."

"You worried he'll end up in jail like your sister's kid?" Greg let it slip out of his mouth.

One of Nick's nephews had recently been arrested on breaking and entering charges. The eighteen year old had been gravitating towards a local gang in his area for some time, but he had never done anything like this before. Nick's sister was mortified by his behaviour, while his folks had practically disowned their grandchild and banned their daughter from even visiting them with her children.

It made Nick feel a little more relieved that he wasn't the only one that was in the dog house with his parents, but he still felt sorry for his sister and his nieces and nephews that hadn't even done anything wrong.

"Sorry." The younger man anxiously bit his lower lip, making his way towards the back door, so he could see his son. "You don't have to worry about Colt at the moment, he's four. You know, I can take a look at the mower." He quickly changed the subject. "I cleared out the blades of my Dad's old one often enough."

"No you can't." Nick stopped him there. "You had a baby not that long ago."

"Three months ago, Nick. I'm fine. Besides, I only said I was going to take a look at it." Greg pulled his sneakers on, ignoring his husband's advice as he made his way over the mower. "Hey, Buckaroo." He waved to his son.

"Papa." Colt jumped off the slide, hurrying over to the man. "Papa, Papa, I ride my bike." He pointed to it. "I rode it ten times."

"Ten times, wow." Greg knelt down to his level to hug him, not risking lifting him up, even though he wanted to. He really did feel fine, but everyone was still insisting that he take it easy, until his wound had fully healed. "Now that's impressive. I couldn't even do ten laps of the path." He smiled at him, pecking a kiss to his forehead. "Looks like it's rusted through, Daddy." He looked over his shoulder at Nick. "You'll have to buy more blades. You might wonna check the filter too. It clogged up all the time when I cut your grass back at your bachelor pad."

"You cut the grass after I left?" Nick looked at him surprised.

"Yeah, I wanted to look after the place." He climbed to his feet, folding his arms across his chest. "It was the first place we ever lived together. I wanted to stay there, but we couldn't hold onto it with you gone."

"Daddy, look at me. Daddy, look at me. Daddy." Colt called out to him from the top of his slide.

"I'm lookin', bud." Nick responded to his son, smiling as he watched him going down the slide. "Good, boy." He clapped his hands, turning his attention back to Greg. "We have a real family home now, one that we can raise our kids in and they can build memories here, just like we did when we were kids."

"I know. I still miss the old place though." He leant forwards, pressing a kiss to Nick's lips. "It was the first place that you and I... first place that all this started. You know how much I like history. Your old place had our history in it. That made it special to me."

"I get it." Nick nodded in understanding. "We can build new memories here though. We can't live in the past anymore, G."

"I know." Greg smiled at him, glad they saw eye to eye on things. "But the same thing applies to you, Nick. You can't live in the past anymore either, the present needs your attention a lot more. So, you had lunch?" Nick shook his head. "Okay, I'll get to it. You can change my bandage after. You want me to give my Dad a call? He probably still remembers where he bought the last blades from."

"No it's alright, I'll leave it for now." He stepped into the house with Greg. "I was thinkin' about makin' one of those climbin' structure things for the boys though. There's plenty of space out there. We can put monkey bars, a swing... give them somethin' else to do in the garden."

"I don't see Jackson doing monkey bars anytime soon." The younger man giggled softly. "But that sounds like a good idea. My Papa Olaf and my Dad made mine when I was a kid. I spent hours on it and my Mom spent hours biting her nails as she watched me climbing on it."

"We can bark chip the ground beneath it." He suggested to keep their boys safe. "I still have to finish safety proofin' this house before Jackson starts crawlin', but I can start plannin' it."

"I think it's a great idea." Greg smiled at him, pulling the man closer to hug him. "While we're on the subject of our future, have you thought anymore about christening the boys or any chance of us getting a dog sometime soon?"

"Ooh, I might have to think about that one for a while. Both of them actually." He smiled against his lips. "You know, there's really no rush on things we have to squeeze into our lives. We got back together, got engaged, moved house, got pregnant, got married and had a baby in the short space of the year and two months that I've been back. Don't you think we should save some things for the years ahead? We won't have anythin' left to do together soon."

"You know why I want to do it all now." He avoided direct eye contact with him as he held the man close. "I managed on my own, because I had to keep going for Colt. I don't want to do it again, but I know it's going to happen eventually. Even if it is ten, twenty or thirty years from now, I want lots of memories of you and the kids together."

"Wouldn't you rather that it was real memories? I want our kids to have an amazin' childhood that they'll always remember too, but they're still so young. We have plenty of time to build real memories with them." He assured him, resting their heads together as they leant closer. "I know that it's hard to get over the fact that you could have lost me and not known about it, but we can't let it rule our lives. When I came back for you, it was because I wanted things to go back to how they were, before I ever knew that I had cancer. I don't want it constantly on your mind too. That makes me wish that I never told you."

"It's not always on my mind, I just want to make the most of the time we've got left."

"So make the most of it and slow down a second, so you can actually enjoy spendin' some time with me. Take your own advice, G and start livin' in the present." He smiled at him, before he led him by the hand to the front room. "Startin' with lettin' me change your dressin'. I don't want you gettin' another infection or somethin'." He sat the younger man down on the sofa, making sure he could still see Colt from the window, before he hurried upstairs to get the kit.

Greg propped up a pillow behind his head, laying himself down against the sofa cushions. After his c-section with Colt, he had either his mother or a nurse change the dressing for him. It was nice to have Nick doing it for him, it reminded him of just after the lab explosion when Nick changed his dressings for him.

Long before they were dating, but the feelings were there.

Nick returned with the kit, setting it down on the coffee table beside the sofa. He knelt down beside Greg, lifting his t-shirt and lowering his sweatpants slightly, so he could get to the bandage across his lower abdomen.

"We wouldn't have to get a dog right away, but you always said how much you loved your dogs when you were a kid. I've never had a pet my whole life. It was just a suggestion for the future. Maybe when the kids are old enough to walk it on their own." The younger man continued to try and argue his case, getting a smile out of his husband as he carefully peeled away the bandage. "I know that dogs live even less time than humans, but it's supposed to be a valuable lesson to kids that not everything lasts forever."

"You think that it might soften the blow?" Nick guessed what he was going to say next as he carefully cleaned around the younger man's c-section wound.

"Maybe a little. But mostly because I just want a dog."

"I'm not rulin' it out completely, but dogs are hard work too, no matter what kind you get. You have to train it, clean up its business, walk it... and with a baby around, you have to constantly watch them. You never know what a dog will do if a baby keeps playin' with its tail or somethin'. Cats are worse. One of my sister's cats almost took her first baby's eye out because it got so annoyed with the baby pullin' its tail. Her baby had to have surgery at two months old to repair the damage."

"Yeah, I remember your sister telling me. He still has a tiny scar beside his eye, but he's not afraid of cars, because he doesn't even remember it. How about we just wait until Jackson is around Colt's age then," The younger man giggled softly, as he was beginning to sound like a child, begging for a dog. "It's just... my Mom never let me have a dog. I begged her thousands of times, but she always said no. I promised myself that as soon as I left home, I was going to get a dog of my very own, but I never did. Now my husband won't even let me have one."

"I didn't say you couldn't." His partner objected, removing the seal from the fresh bandage. "You don't need my permission to get a dog. You want a dog so badly, you go ahead and get one."

"I want one, but you have to agree that you want one too. I don't mind waiting longer." Greg flinched slightly as Nick applied some pressure to seal the bandage into place. "Ow."

"Ooh, I'm sorry, baby." Nick flinched himself, gently pressing a kiss to the younger man's head. "Does it hurt?"

"No, it's just tender when you press it." He assured him, sealing it into place himself. "We don't have to get a dog."

"If you want a dog, get one. I'll support you no matter what you do." He indicated to the ring on his finger. "This means I'm legally bound to support each and every one of your crazy ideas."

"I just said I'm okay to wait."

Nick couldn't help but laugh, sealing a kiss to his partner's lips. "You really are impossible, G. Do you want a dog a not?"

Greg smiled back at him, giving him a shrug. "Honestly, I'm really not bothered about when. I can wait until Jackson's a little older. Maybe by the time we actually decide what breed of dog to get, we'll have another little baby on our hands."

"Okay." His partner smiled at him, carefully putting his t-shirt and sweatpants back into place. He snapped off the gloves he had been wearing, checking on Colt out the window as he tidied the things away. He had abandoned the slide, driving his trucks across the path instead. "I don't know about you, but I can't wait to look out there and watch our boys playin' together. My brother was already a teenager when I was first allowed to play outside. I got to play with my sisters; dolls, house, the occasional exploration mission into the woods..." He smiled at him. "But I always wished that my brother was a little younger, then maybe we coulda got on a little better. I even missed the chance to play with my only sister that wasn't a girly girl."

"I got on fine by myself."

"You weren't by yourself, you had your grandparents and your folks with you the whole time." The older man reminded him, gently combing his fingers through his partner's tousled hair. "I made the biggest mistake of my life walkin' out on you. You really don't have to do anythin' different to make everyday special, because every day with you is already special because my day has you in it."

"You think changing my icky bandages and listening to me whine is special?"

"Yep. I wouldn't be able to live without it. Well you, I wouldn't be able to live without you. Look what happened to me the last time. I've hardly been sick my whole life. I've got the occasional cold, but I haven't been in hospital for anythin' major..."

"Besides the concussion, broken ribs..."

"Alright, alright," Nick stopped him there with a kiss to his lips. "I get that you're scared of losin' me, G, but I don't want it to be hangin' over your head all the time. I want you to get on with your life. Bein' scared of somethin' happenin' all the time is no way to live. I want my Greg back. My Greggo wasn't afraid to live."

"Well, since my Nick has returned... I think I can bring him back again." His husband smiled back at him, pulling the older man onto the sofa on top of him. He gently combed his fingers through the man's hair, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "You are everything I ever wanted... and more, Nicky."

"You really dreamed of havin' a boyfriend like me when you were a kid?" Nick found that hard to believe as he sat up beside him.

"No, I thought I'd have a castle or something." He confessed, looking towards the door as Colt stumbled in. "C'mere, Buckaroo. Papa needs a hug." Greg looped his arm around his son's waist, pulling him closer against the sofa. He held his husband and son tightly in his embrace, feeling their hearts beating against him. "Okay, I better make us all some lunch. What are your plans for this afternoon, Daddy?"

"I was gonna wash my car. I can do yours too while I'm at it. Since it probably hasn't been washed since you got it."

"I never bother with that whole car maintenance thing." Greg grinned widely at him as he climbed to his feet. "C'mon bubba, let's go make some sandwiches for lunch." He led his child through to the kitchen, checking on Jackson in his Moses basket. "When was his last bottle?"

"Not that long ago. He didn't drink that much though. I wrote it on the fridge." He pointed it out to him, before he pecked a kiss to the younger man's cheek. "I'm alright, G, don't worry about makin' me anythin' for lunch. I'm gonna go get started on the cars." He pressed a kiss to Colt's forehead, leaving the two of them to make lunch.

He couldn't believe that he was actually excited to spend the day fixing the lawn mower and cleaning cars. Personally, he had always dreamed of a simple life like this; where simple household chores broke up the day. He just never thought that it would really happen.

"Here you go, Freddy. Don't go any further than the fence, okay. Just up and down the driveway. Freddy, did you hear me?" Evelyn warned her son, carefully setting his bike down. "I catch you going outside that fence, you'll be in a world of trouble, mister."

"I won't." Freddy promised her, climbing onto his bike.

"Hey, Nicky." She waved to her neighbour, trying not to take in too much of his amazing figure. He was fully clothed, but that didn't stop her from staring. His jeans were really tight around his hips and his t-shirt showed off his gorgeous figure that he had worked so hard to get back.

"Hi, Evelyn." Nick smiled back at her, pushing some sunglasses up his nose as she hurried across the street.

"I haven't seen you all week. Greg said that you've been busy at the lab all week. I didn't think that the first day off you get, you'd spend it doing household chores." The woman giggled softly. "When my husband gets back from a business trip, he crashes straight onto the couch with a beer in his hands and he doesn't move unless he's hungry. Oh, did Naomi show you her new dog yet?" Evelyn motioned towards his neighbours, that Nick hadn't even met in person yet. He had seen the husband leaving a few times in the morning to get to work, and the kids walking home from the bus stop, but he had never actually introduced himself yet.

"No, I haven't seen it yet. I heard it though."

"It's one of those little Pomeranians. She called it Loui. Shortly before you two moved in, they used to have a big ol Doberman round there. Hell of switch from one of them, to this tiny little thing. Did you see the Thomas' house has finally been sold?" The woman changed the subject again, motioning over the fence from her own house. "Jan Thomas said it was bought by a young married couple. Around three kids, she recons. I think she said something about them having a dog too. Greg said that the two of you are thinking about getting a dog. We had one with our daughter, Ceira a long time ago. He got run over. Jan's husband backed her car..."

"Yeah, I remember you tellin' me." Nick stopped her there, not wanting to hear the dog got squished story again. "We haven't actually decided yet. Greg's just gettin' ahead of himself with plannin' out his life. I'm tryin' to get him to slow down a little. We've only just had a baby."

"Tell him to enjoy it while he can. One day your little boy will be a teen like my little girl, then he'll want nothing to do with you either. I don't see how I embarrass her by giving her a ride to school, but she won't even let me do that anymore. She won't take the bus though. God forbid anyone see her riding the bus to school. No, she gets her Daddy to drop her off a block away from the school, then she walks in with her friends."

Nick smiled at the woman, remembering his sisters doing the same thing with their father. "I'm not so worried about them growin' up. I think Greg's more worried about that. He's worried about how they'll feel about him as they get older."

"You tell him he has nothing to worry about. They're gonna love him."

"Mom!" George shouted out the door to her.

"One second, sweetheart." Evelyn called back to him, giving Nick a smile as she took a step backwards down his driveway. "The twins are finger painting in the kitchen. I left George in charge of them, while I got Freddy's bike out the garage for him. Even with just the four of them, I'm still running round like a headless chicken." She chuckled softly. "Enjoy this alone time while it lasts. As soon as little Jackson starts walking or crawling even, you'll have your own two little monsters to run around after."

"I know. I've still got a few things to safety proof before he starts."

"Good luck with that. We've had the house safety proofed since George was born. The twins still managed to bypass the locks on the cupboards. Brooklyn almost broke all of her fingers the other day. Her sister nearly crushed her hand in the door after she got it open. Hey, would you mind keeping an eye on Freddy for a few minutes? I better get back to the twins. Lord knows what their touching with their little blue, green fingertips."

"Sure. Good luck." Nick gave her a smile in response, watching young Freddy fastening his helmet into place, as his mother gave him another warning. Evelyn stayed in the doorway to watch her son for a moment, before she returned to her twins. She knew her neighbour would keep a close eye on her son, even if he was washing his car, so she had nothing to worry about.

Nick knelt down beside his car to wash the tires, jumping at the sight of Greg standing beside him. "Don't do that, Greg. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." He couldn't help but giggle. "I was waiting in the doorway. I saw Evelyn come over, so I waited until she was gone."

"That's very anti social of you, G."

"The woman talks more than my mother." Greg defended himself, handing Nick the ice cold glass of water from his hands. "You know, I never did ask you what you did with your truck. You took it with you, didn't you? You used to love that thing like a baby. I couldn't imagine that you'd ever part with it, but you never brought it back. So, what'd you do with it?"

"Sold it." Nick climbed to his feet, taking a slight sip of the cold water. "I thought I was as good as dead, so I sold it to the first guy that gave me an offer."

The younger man looked at him surprised, suddenly wishing he had never asked. "I can't believe you'd really do that. You practically sold away a part of yourself." He leant against the hood of Nick's car, giving the man a quizzical look, feeling as though he barely knew who he was anymore. The Toyota 4Runner he had now wasn't a huge part of who Nick was, not like his old truck was. His old truck used to be a huge part of him; his baby, a possession that he couldn't live without.

Now it was just a car.

"What?" The Texan glanced up at him, feeling his eyes burning into him as he washed the tire in front of him. "I know you've got somethin' on your mind, so just say it."

"I can't believe you'd do that. I feel so betrayed."

"It wasn't your car." Nick gave him a wide smile as he climbed to his feet again. "Why do you feel betrayed?"

"Because... if you could do that to a possession that you loved, what are you gonna do with me or the kids the next time that you find out? You loved that truck, Nick. You wouldn't let anyone else ride it. You barely let me stack boxes in the back of it when we were out a scene. When it got stolen, you were practically in tears, feeling as though you had lost a limb or something. I always wanted you to feel that way about me, but if you can get rid of it that quickly..."

Nick dropped the sponge from his hands, gently placing his hands on the younger man's hips as he looked into his eyes. "You're being ridiculous. It was just a truck. That's why I could let it go so easily. When I was five, I used to love a rock that I found at the lake." He grinned at him. "I'm not kiddin'. I used to carry that thing everywhere with me. I sat it at the table beside me when I was eatin'. Took it in the bath with me, put it on my night stand while I slept."

"What happened to it?" Greg gave him a curious look, wondering if he had held onto it.

"I found a new obsession in the form of a dog. My folks bought it for my sixth birthday. I can't remember what happened to the rock. I must have just ditched it somewhere. I had my dog, Alpha until I was nineteen." He gently combed his fingers through the younger man's soft hair, explaining, "I loved that rock, but I loved my dog more. Just like I loved my truck, but I love you more than I've ever loved anythin'. I would never ditch you or replace you."

Greg rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, thanks for comparing me to a dog. That makes me feel a whole lot better."

"Hey." Nick stopped him from pulling away from him, sealing a romantic kiss to his lips. "The truck was never a part of me, it was just a possession. You're a huge part of me though. Without you, I'm nothin'. My time away from you proved that. You have got to stop worryin'. I'm not goin' anywhere. I love you too much to leave. Besides, my truck could never love me back."

Greg immediately poked the man in the side, with an annoyed frown on his face. "I liked everything until that part. You really have to work on your charm, Tex. You're beginning to lose it in your old age."

"I'm not losin' anythin'." He leant forwards, gently pinning the younger man between himself and the car as he sealed their lips together. "You know, in my fantasy version of this, you're naked."

"With the neighbours watching?"

"What neighbours?" Nick glanced around their neighbourhood, spotting one or two of their neighbours out, but they were busy with their own chores.

A man down the street was walking in and out of his garage with some planks of wood. They had just bought a dog, so he was probably making a dog house or repairing the holes in his fence. Another neighbour was tending to her flowers in the garden, hacking away at perfectly healthy roses. He hadn't heard the latest gossip from Evelyn yet, but Nick guessed that it was something to do with her husband recently moving out.

"Yeah okay," Greg agreed with him on that, giving his husband a slight push away from him, so he could move. "But that's one fantasy that's going to remain in your head. I've got hungry baby boys to feed." He pecked a kiss to the corner of Nick's lips, giving him a smile as he stepped away from him. "If your schedule is free tonight, and we manage to get Jackson to sleep on time, we could have some time alone together."

"Mmm, I like that idea." Nick gave him a smile, waving the younger man off, before he returned to washing his car. He quickly glanced up to check on Freddy as he heard a sudden crash, just spotting the six year old falling off his bike onto the pavement.

The second he went down, Nick shot up from where he had been knelt down beside his car, hurrying straight across the street. "Hey, you okay?" He carefully lifted the child out of the wreckage of his bike, brushing down the dirt from his elbows. "Ya'ight? Are you hurt?"

Freddy looked as though he was about to cry, but he managed a slight nod.

"You really took a tumble there." Nick gave him a smile, checking his knees weren't bleeding, before he lifted him into his arms. "Better safe than sorry, let's go see, Mama." He carried him across the empty driveway, into the open front door to find, Evelyn. "Hello? Evelyn?"

"In here." The woman called back to him.

"Freddy fell off his bike." Nick carefully sat him on the counter beside the sink, watching as his mother quickly fussed over him. "Lucky he was wearin' his helmet."

"Freddy could injure himself on a bouncy castle, wrapped in bubble wrap." Evelyn giggled softly, carefully removing the helmet from her son's head. She double checked his elbows and knees, before she pressed a kiss to his little forehead. "I think you'll live. See this is why I wanted you to ride on the grass out back."

"There's too many bumps in the grass." Freddy complained, jumping down from the counter.

"I know, I keep telling your father, but he's not interested." Evelyn handed him back his helmet, playfully ruffling her hand through his shabby blonde hair as he hurried away. "Thank you, Nicky. He's already broken his arm twice. He's had a concussion. Six stitches in his leg when he fell off the fence. He's a right little terror that one. Ceira and George were never like that."

"Colt's always bumpin' his head. It makes me want to line the bottom of the tables and things with foam or somethin', so Jackson doesn't do the same."

"That reminds me of my husband." Evelyn giggled softly. "We had the twins shortly after Freddy broke his arm the first time. My husband was constantly worrying about both of them, practically following them round with pillows when they started crawling." She returned to her twin girls at the table, stopping the two of them from painting each other with their little multicoloured fingertips. "You know, if you or Greg ever need a break. You're welcome to bring the two of them over anytime. There is some organisation in the chaos here." She smiled at him, gently combing her daughter, Brooklyn's hair out of her face.

"I honestly don't know how you manage. I've only got two and I feel like I can barely manage. You've got five and you're doin' great. I always wanted a big family because I grew up in a big family, but now I'm not so sure."

"It's no easy task, but it's the best job in the world."

"Yeah, I hear yah on that one." He agreed with her, making a move towards the door. "I should get back to washin' my car. I'll keep an eye on Freddy for you."

"Thank you."

Nick waved her off, making his way back across the street to his own house. He smiled as Greg came out to check on him again, holding a plate with a sandwich on it this time. "I told you I wasn't hungry."

"What kind of husband would I be, if I let you starve out here?" He asked him, giving him a smile as he handed him the plate. "What were you doing over there?"

"Freddy fell off his bike. I took him in to his mother." Nick explained to him, taking his first bite of the sandwich. "Mmm, thank you, honey. Jackson take his bottle alright?"

"Yeah, he drank it all. No fuss. He must have been starving. My Mom just called to check in too. She sends her love. And my Dad said he'd fix the mower for you the next time he's over. They want to bring the girls, if that's alright with you. Just for the day, not the whole weekend or anything."

"Yeah that's fine, but I told you I could do it."

"Now you won't have to." The younger man pecked a kiss to his cheek, returning to the house. He helped Colt down from the table as soon as he finished his sandwich, sending him off into the front room to play with his toys, while he cleaned up. "Ah..." He flinched in surprise as his husband suddenly wrapped his arms around him. "You can't be missing me already."

"I was just thinkin'." He combed his fingers through Greg's hair. "It's great to be alive."

The younger man chuckled softly, turning in his arms to face him. "Give the man a medal. He deals with a busted lawn mower, a hyperactive four year old, a crazy husband, washing cars and watching out for the neighbours kids... and he thinks it's the greatest day of his life."

"Every day that I wake up to you, is greater than the one before that."

**THE END**

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**And that's a wrap folks :D**

**Thanks for sticking with it, those of you that did, and thanks so much for all of your reviews. Please let me know what you thought. Haven't thought of a title for the sequel yet, but I will let you know when I post it. I usually like to write a few chapters into the story before I start to upload, so I might post some of my one-shots in the time being.  
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**Thank you so much for reading!**

**~ Holly**


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